


Exiled on Remnant Amid a Jeering Crowd

by Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis



Series: The Wandering One [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Asexual Character, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Faunus Weiss Schnee, Fluff and Angst, Nonbinary Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2020-11-26 16:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 57
Words: 177,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20932955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis/pseuds/Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis
Summary: For most of her life Weiss has been untouchable, but since being revealed as a Faunus to everyone on Remnant everything has been upended. And with the Fall of Beacon, Team RWBY are scattered and adrift so Weiss has taken it upon herself to bring her family back together. But the journey will be far from easy and even if her wings are no longer broken, it's not yet time for her to soar.





	1. Chapter 1

“You ever been on one of these before?” Hong asked, looking at the hooded figure sat on the back of the guard truck with them.

“No, I haven’t. I always travelled by air before.” The hooded woman replied, fiddling idly with the bracer on her right wrist.

“Fancy, bit of a leap going from air travel to guarding a caravan.” She just shrugged.

“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. These are trying times after all. You said you’ve been doing this for a while now?”

“Yeah, going on four years now.” They replied rather smugly. “Never lost a shipment.” The hooded woman just groaned. “What?”

“Let’s just say I made some claims like that once and the universe didn’t like it.” Her eyes were already scanning the woods alongside the road, looking for something.

“Pfft, you’re being paranoid, the universe isn’t out to get yo-.” Their scoffing was interrupted by the hooded woman leaping to her feet and spinning the barrel of her bracer around, aiming at something moving out in the woods.

A Beowolf flew out of the forest at one of the trucks further back in the convoy only to be caught mid-leap by a spike of ice impaling it and sending it crashing lifelessly to the ground.

“You were saying?” She sighed, as several howls echoed from the woods. “You want to put those four years of experience to use?” Hong nodded dumbly as the hooded woman backed up a bit for a running jump out of the back of the truck onto the roof of the one behind.

She looked back along the caravan as a few more of the guards were emerging from where they were arranged along the convoy. More Beowolves emerged from the woods, running up alongside the trucks which accelerated to try and get away but the pack kept pace. The hooded woman’s truck shook as Hong’s massive frame landed on the roof alongside her.

“Let’s clear these beasts out!” They called out, the other guards hollering in approval as they levelled a large shotgun at the nearest Beowolf. The hooded woman was just about able to cover her ears in time, the retort of Hong’s gun rang out and the Beowolf was reduced to a dark mist.

Unwilling to let herself be shown up, the hooded woman spun her bracer and launched a wave of fire at the pack, immolating a few and sending several others running.

“Not bad!” Hong complimented as they loaded another shell. “But there’s still more!” Glancing back, she saw the rest of the guards weren’t faring so well against the rest of the pack, their mishmash of small arms and rifles not making enough of an impact.

“Can you stay up here?” The hooded woman asked and Hong nodded, aiming at another Beowolf that ran up beside their truck.

“Go.” Taking off quickly, the woman hopped from truck to truck towards the struggling guards. She flinched involuntarily as a Beowolf slammed into one of the trucks, causing it to veer wildly and sending one of the guards balanced on top crashing to the ground with a sickening crunch.

Pulling out her side arm, she fired a few shots at the pursuing Grimm that went wide. Cursing, she brought her right arm up again and several spikes of ice lanced out, landing lethal blows on the Beowolves. They were thinning the pack, but there were still a great many chasing alongside. A couple tried to climb onto one of the trucks but were taken down by concentrated gun fire.

The truck the hooded woman was stood on rocked violently as another Grimm latched onto the side. Switching her side arm, she swung her blade down at the beast’s arms and was immensely satisfied when it cleaved through cleanly, leaving the Beowolf to fall to the ground to be trampled by its brethren.

She looked back along the caravan and saw that they were slowly but surely beating the attackers back, smoking corpses left in their wake. Soon the last of the pack fled and the rest of the guards started cheering.

That is of course, until they were drowned out by a loud howl. There was a massive crashing, and bursting from the trees came a truly massive Alpha Beowolf. Barrelling out of the woods, it leaped onto one of the trucks between the hooded woman and Hong.

“Shoot it!” The cry came from behind and she had to duck as a hail of bullets flew overhead, only to plink uselessly off the Alpha’s armour.

“Stop shooting, you’re wasting bullets!” She screamed at the guards, who reluctantly stopped firing, allowing her to get up and run towards the Grimm, hopping the gaps as quickly as possible. She had to admire the skills of the drivers, able to keep control even whilst under Grimm attack. The alpha was moving ahead, advancing on a kneeling Hong who fired a blast from their shotgun, which seemed to stagger the beast but ultimately didn’t kill it.

Gritting her teeth, she ran faster as the Alpha made it to the same truck as Hong, bearing down on them as they struggled to reload quickly enough. Her heart froze as she saw them look up at the beast, its massive clawed arm raised, and close their eyes in acceptance.

No, she was not going to lose anyone else. Feeling her aura course through her into familiar patterns she’d been avoiding using the last couple of days, a set of glyphs manifested between her and the Alpha, propelling her forward even faster.

The claw descended as a wing seemed to materialise between Hong and the Grimm.

They gazed up in shock at the grey and white feathers as the wing flexed, throwing the Alpha off balance and the hooded woman took its place, thrusting her hand forward, a spinning red glyph manifested and spewed massive gouts of flame. The Alpha roared in what could have been pain as its flesh scorched and burned, but the woman did not let up. Gritting her teeth, she poured more and more aura into her bracer and the Fire Dust within.

With a final howl the Alpha crumbled into ash, which was itself vaporised by the heat. Letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, she let her hand drop and the glyph dematerialise and relative silence fell over the caravan that was swiftly broken by some wary cheers from further back.

“Thanks Ivory, you really saved my ass there.” Hong was breathing heavily and accepted her offered hand, pulling themselves to their feet. In all the excitement, their saviour’s hood had fallen down, exposing her snow-white hair and piercing blue eyes.

“It was nothing, Hong.” Weiss reassured the guard.

* * *

Weiss hadn’t truly been aware of just how insulated Patch was from the rest of the world until she got off the boat and onto the docks. The air was thick with tension, as though something could go wrong at any moment. Most of Vale had been reclaimed, but there were still frequent attacks, often from Beacon where the giant Grimm still sat frozen atop the tower. Pulling her cloak tighter around herself and checking that her hood was up, Weiss made her way to the harbourmaster’s office.

Inside was a harried looking young man sat behind a desk, looking over several large stacks of paper and muttering to himself.

“No no no, this isn’t right at all.” She heard him groan as she cautiously approached.

“Excuse me?” She asked and the young man snapped his gaze to her, irritation flaring in his eyes.

“Yes, what is it? Can’t you see I’m busy?” He snapped sharply and Weiss took a step back in worry.

“Sorry, but I need to get a boat to Menagerie.” At once, the young man’s eyebrows raised and he gave her a once over, she could tell he was looking for her trait. Sighing deeply, she moved her cloak aside and flashed him a wing.

“I see… Let me have a look at the manifestos.” He mused, sifting through the papers as Weiss walked closer, tucking her wing away again. “Ah, here we go, Menagerie...” He gave her an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, it looks like the boat to Menagerie left a few days ago, the next one won’t be for another three weeks.”

“Three weeks!?” Weiss’ jaw dropped. “Surely you’re mistaken.”

“I’m afraid not Miss, the journey itself takes about two weeks and this is the only boat that does the route from Vale to Menagerie. It’s not a very popular journey.” Weiss’ head drooped in despair. If she couldn’t get to Menagerie fast enough, who knew where Blake would go after that. And worse, how long would she have to go before her family was restored.

“Please, I need to get to Menagerie as fast as possible.” She looked up at the man, eyes pleading.

“I’m sorry miss, but there’s nothing I can do.” He shook his head, then paused. “Although...” He grabbed a piece of paper and began scrawling something down on it.

“What?” Weiss stood on tiptoe to try to see what he was writing.

“I think I know how you can get there only a day or so after the boat you just missed.” The ex-heiress’ eyes widened.

“How?”

“What with air traffic down except for emergency usage, there have been a lot of caravans leaving Vale to take supplies out to the other cities in the kingdoms. More than usual at least. If you can get on one leaving in the next day you can cross the continent to Dolmen, they run a more frequent service there.” He grinned, looking extremely proud of himself for coming up with the route.

“Yes, that’s perfect thank you!” There was still hope!

“Yeah, I don’t blame you wanting to get out of Vale as quickly as possible, what with all the anti-Faunus stuff going around.” The young man continued, as he scribbled something else out, making Weiss pause in her silent jubilation.

“Anti-Faunus feeling?”

“Oh you know, since the White Fang were involved in the Fall there’s a lot of people thinking it’s alright to blame all the Faunus for what happened. Complete and utter rubbish if you ask me, blaming you all for the actions of a few, but that hasn’t stopped them. I’m surprised you hadn’t noticed.” He looked at her curiously.

“I just got off the boat from Patch.” Weiss said faintly, her heart sinking.

“Ah, that explains it. It’s like another world over there. Anyway, take this. A cousin of mine’s friend works for the caravan dispatch on Emerald Way. His name’s Gris. He should be able to help you get on one, though you’ll probably be expected to pull your own weight.” He passed her the paper with his untidy scrawl, somehow even worse than Ruby’s.

“Right, I’ll get over there right away. Thank you for your help.” The man waved her off as she quick walked out of the office and towards the edge of the docks. Qrow had been right about things being a mess, as if having the capital of a kingdom half destroyed and international communications down weren’t bad enough, people had to go stir up hatred against the Faunus as well. It was no wonder there were still Grimm attacks with negativity like that going around.

Yet again Weiss checked her cloak fully covered her wings and her hood obscured enough of her face. She’d been well known enough before her outing on live TV, she wouldn’t be surprised if she was the most well-known Faunus on all of Remnant. Most of the streets close to the harbour had been rebuilt, it being the safest place, though very few stores were open. Weiss was particularly disturbed to see a great many had signs depicting a crude drawing of the White Fang logo crossed through. The meaning was painfully clear. Faunus weren’t welcome in Vale any more.

Weiss shuddered to think of what Sun would have gone through if he’d been in Vale tailing Blake for the last two months. As she got further into the heart of Vale, though a lot of the major damage had been repaired, there were still signs of the recent invasion, street lamps that had yet to be removed and replaced, buildings with broken windows that had been cleared out but not fixed. There were fewer people too, those she did encounter were walking swiftly, staring resolutely ahead.

It wasn’t until she reached the main square that she saw more people, but it wasn’t a welcome sight. A makeshift stage had been set up in the centre and a large banner overhead proclaimed: ‘Get the Animals out of Vale!’

“These sub-human beasts brought our great city to ruin, after we did so much for them. We let them roam our streets, gave them rights, we even gave them a place to call their own! Well we say we pack them up and send them to that island, Vale for the humans!” Weiss felt sick as a red-faced woman screamed her hateful rhetoric into a megaphone, several others standing behind her. Even worse was the substantial crowd surrounding the stage, roaring in support.

This was awful. Weiss skirted the square as fast as she could whilst the woman continued to rant and rave about the supposed evils of the Faunus. Why was no one doing anything? Why weren’t the police or any of the hunters still in Vale stopping this?

As soon as she was out of sight of the rally, Weiss broke into a run, wanting to put as much distance between herself and the angry mob as she could. Once the sounds of hatred faded, Weiss slowed down a little, breathing heavily. This was so wrong.

After catching her breath, Weiss steeled herself and headed resolutely towards Emerald Way. Stepping delicately around debris and roped off areas she eventually found herself right on the outskirts of Vale, she could just make out the fence through gaps in the buildings. There were more people here, milling around, most carrying crates and sacks to various idling trucks and other vehicles. A little further along the street a makeshift sign hung over a building declaring it as the depot and Weiss’ destination.

Dodging around a few people, she made her way into the building, a grizzled man looking up from something she couldn’t see behind his desk.

“Can I help you miss?” He drawled, raising an eyebrow as Weiss stepped over to him.

“Yes, I’m looking for a man named Gris.” She told him, gaze wandering a little as a few armed men walked out of the back and out the main door. The man raised an eyebrow but leaned back to holler behind him.

“Hey Gris, got someone lookin’ for ya!” There was a short pause, then a voice called back.

“Alright, I’m comin’.” Another moment passed, then an incredibly thin man stepped out. Weiss could tell why he was named Gris with his hair and eyes a steely grey. “What do you want?”

“I was told to find you. I need to get to Dolmen.”

“This ain’t a passenger service, sweetheart. You’d better look elsewhere.” Weiss didn’t like him already, but she needed his help so she gritted her teeth and continued.

“I have a note to give to you as well.” She held the piece of paper out which Gris took reluctantly and looked over it.

“Ugh, Umbra has the _worst_ handwriting.” He groaned, squinting at certain points in his reading. “Say if I were to let you on a caravan, can you pull your weight? You don’t look particularly strong to do any loading.” He looked sceptically at Weiss’ admittedly slender body.

“I’m a lot tougher than I look, I’ve got huntress training too.” Gris raised an eyebrow at this.

“Fancy, you got your weapon with you?” Weiss moved her cloak aside to reveal Penny Dreadful. Gris gave her another appraising look.

“Alright, you need to get to Dolmen, we’ve got a caravan headed out later. You can be on it on the condition you work as a guard, just keep the convoy safe from any Grimm or bandits and we’ll consider that your payment for the journey. Sound good?” It was better than Weiss could have hoped for and it wasn’t going to get any better.

“Sounds good.” She agreed easily and Gris walked around the desk to lead her out the building.

“I’ll introduce you to the head of the guards and you can help finish off the loading.” He told her over his shoulder as he walked towards the end of the street and close to the gates leading out into the wilds. It was a flurry of activity around as people were walking by, loading goods onto trucks and fuelling them up, getting ready for the long journey ahead. Leaning up against one of the vans, not actually hauling but instead watching over the loading was an absolute monster of a man, easily a foot taller than Yatsu, with a gun to match slung over his back.

“This is Hong. They’re head guard on this run. You listen to what they say.” Hong lazily stood to attention, looking over Weiss critically.

“Who’s this you’ve brought me Gris?” They asked, voice surprisingly light for someone of their size.

“This is...” He had a brief double-take and looked down at Weiss. “Sorry, I never actually got your name.” Weiss froze for a moment. She hadn’t thought of that. It would be suspicious if she didn’t answer soon so she just said the first thing that came to mind.

“Ivory, it’s Ivory.” She stuck a hand out to try and distract from her momentary pause. Hong took the outstretched hand in a firm grip.

“Nice to meet you, Ivory. I hope you can handle yourself, I’d hate to lose someone as beautiful as you to the wilds.” Weiss raised an eyebrow.

“I have a girlfriend.” She told them flatly and they just shrugged.

“Good for you, sorry if I offended, I have a habit throwing out compliments every once in a while.” They apologised, letting go of Weiss’ hand allowing her to wave it off.

“Just, maybe try to keep them to a minimum, please.” They laughed softly, grinning down at the white-haired girl.

“I think we’re gonna get along just fine. Now why don’t we go and help with the loading, huh?” Weiss nodded in agreement. “Thanks for bringing her to me, Gris.”

“Yes, thank you for your help.” Weiss chimed in, as Gris turned to head back to the depot.

“Yeah, yeah. Just try not to get yourself killed out there.” He called over his shoulder, leaving the pair alone.

“Shall we?” Hong gestured towards what looked like a makeshift warehouse on the other side of the street.

“We shall.” And with that, Weiss happily followed them. At last she was underway. First Dolmen, then Menagerie, and when she got there she would make sure Blake regretted ever running away like she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you know how I said I was going to post this on the 14th? Guess that was a lie. This is the part where everything changes, for better or worse, and Weiss gets thrown into the unknown. And as it turns out, things have not been going well in Vale the past couple of months. But Weiss is now underway and will be in Menagerie in no time.
> 
> Big thanks to machiavellianFictionist for being my proofreader on this.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Weiss thought it was a massive oversight that there were no settlements less than a day away from Vale. Just as dusk was setting in, they’d reached a well-worn clearing that Hong assured her they’d been using for months and was perfectly safe. Weiss had just rolled her eyes. She’d thought they’d would have learned by now not to say things like that, lest the universe were listening. They’d parked the trucks in a loose circle and set up camp in the centre, pulling various crates of supplies off one of the vans for the evening meal.

Whilst it was being prepared by a couple of the drivers pulling double duty, Weiss joined Hong in determining the watch schedule for the night.

“So it’s settled. Ivory and I take first watch, then Cadmia and Titania relieve us at midnight. Then it’s Huang and Kuro, Lazuli and Peri, and finally Oka and Pitch. Any questions?” They looked around and a short woman with violently green and blue hair raised her hand to a few snickers from the others.

“Yeah, how come you and new girl get the best watch?” She drawled out to a few nods from the others.

“I get best watch ‘cause I’m in charge and Ivory’s with me because she saved my ass from that Alpha. Any more questions?” They were met with a variety of shrugs and head shakes. “Great, let’s relax a while, get somethin’ to eat. Y’all did good today.” With a few murmurs of assent, the circle of guards broke apart leaving Weiss alone with Hong.

“You didn’t have to do that, I told you it was nothing.” Weiss told them quietly as they wound their way between the various members of the caravan towards the fire set up in the centre.

“Ha, it wasn’t just to thank you.” They chuckled in amusement. “It was the only arrangement that would really work. Lazuli and Peri will only work with each other, Oka and Titania don’t like new people, I hate to say it but Huang doesn’t like Faunus all that much, and I imagine someone as fancy as you ain’t gonna get along all that well with someone like Kuro.”

“And the time slot for our watch?” Weiss asked, the corner of her mouth twitching up a little as her eyebrow raised.

“Like I said, perks of being in charge.” They laughed easily, collecting a bowl for the thick, creamy soup the cooks had made.

“You know a lot about your group.” Weiss commented, collecting a bowl herself and letting the cook ladle some soup in.

“I take my job seriously, there’s more to it than just guarding the caravan when you’re in charge. You’ve got responsibilities, ya know?” Hong perched themselves on the sturdiest crate they could find and Weiss joined them.

“Not really, I wasn’t a team leader back at Beacon.” Weiss blushed a little, remembering the first week at the academy and how she’d fought with Ruby over the position. Now though, she couldn’t really see their positions reversed. Ruby was a natural leader and Weiss was perfectly happy to follow her.

“Yeah well, you’ve gotta know your crew pretty well to use ‘em properly. Also, you’ve got a lot more people in a caravan guard, so you’ve got a lot more interpersonal conflicts just waitin’ to happen and you need to make sure that doesn’t happen.” They explained, gesturing at the small groups of the guards scattered around the camp with their spoon.

“I see...” Weiss hummed softly, before she remembered something Hong had mentioned a couple of minutes ago. “Why do you think I’m fancy?” She asked, a slight edge of indignation to her tone. She’d been living the life of the lower middle class for two months now. Surely that counted against her privileged upbringing.

“Ha. Like I said, I gotta know my crew. And you, Ivory, you’re somethin’ of a mystery.” Hong turned their full attention to Weiss. “You act like you’ve got a lot to hide, and you probably do. Don’t worry, I won’t pry, but there’s still a few giveaways. That jewellery of yours for example: the earrings are real sapphire ain’t they? And that ring you’re wearing ain’t cheap either. Then there’s that sword of yours, it’s top of the line Atlesian tech, you ain’t getting that down the local weaponsmith. The way you hold yourself says you’ve had etiquette lessons. Just a lot of little things here and there.” They finished by taking another few mouthfuls of soup. “But that’s not the real mystery, plenty of fancy folks fallen on hard times with the fall. Nah, what’s mystifying about you is that you’re fancy _and _a Faunus.” Weiss froze, spoon halfway to her mouth. Hong was getting dangerously close to her identity. But to her surprise, they held up their hand at Weiss’ moment of frozen panic.

“Hey, hey. Calm yourself. Like I said, I won’t pry. It’s none of my business who you were before you joined us. What matters is what you can do here and now. And from what I saw during that Beowolf attack, you can do plenty around here.” Mollified by their reassurances, Weiss returned to her soup. It wasn’t half-bad either, though she was sure Taiyang could make it better.

She felt a brief flash of almost nostalgia, thinking of the homey cabin on Patch, and she wondered briefly what the inhabitants would be doing around now. Ruby would probably still be training despite Tai’s insistence she take things easy, Zwei would be sat watching Ruby training, Tai would be busy making dinner, and Yang…

Weiss’ heart clenched as she thought of her friend. She’d always thought Yang was the strongest of them all and to see her as she had been the last few months had been horrible.

“So, what you going to Dolmen for?” Hong’s voice broke her out of her reminiscing, drawing her attention back to the bulky guard who was finishing draining their soup and getting soup in their stubble as they did so.

“What happened to not prying?” She asked, allowing a slight teasing tone to enter her voice.

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with making polite conversation.” They shrugged, wiping their face off with the back of their hand. Weiss just sighed, shaking her head in light exasperation.

“I’m looking for someone, Dolmen’s just a stopping point.” She answered after a short pause whilst she chased the last few dregs of soup around her bowl.

“That girlfriend of yours?” Weiss shook her head.

“Just a regular friend, well, best friend I suppose.” She admitted, finally giving up using the spoon and following Hong’s example. “My girlfriend’s back on Patch.” The burly guard raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“So you left her there whilst you go off on this merry chase across Sanus?” Weiss tried not to take offence at the mild disapproval in Hong’s voice.

“It’s complicated.”

“It always is.” Hong agreed softly, before standing up and stretching themselves out. “Well, don’t feel the need to stick with me all evening. Go mingle with the others a bit. I need to speak to the caravan master anyway. Just don’t forget, we’re on watch at ten.” And with a cheery wave, they strode off towards a small group huddled on the edge of the circle.

Taking her bowl over to where someone was collecting them, Weiss meandered around the central fire and over to where the green-and-blue-haired woman was sat chatting to a couple of the other guards. They all looked up as Weiss approached. A couple of them narrowed their eyes at the new arrival.

“What do you want?” The green-and-blue-haired woman asked suspiciously, eyeing up Weiss’ cloaked figure.

“Hong figured I should introduce myself to the crew since I’m new.” Not too much of a lie, but Weiss figured they’d be more welcoming if she made it seem like Hong’s idea. Which it technically was.

“We already know who you are.” The green-and-blue-haired woman said dismissively, only to be slapped lightly by a bald woman wearing turquoise.

“Be nice Peri, we were all newbies once.” She hissed before leaning over her companion, hand extended. “Hi, I’m Lazuli. This grump here’s Peri, well Peridot at the moment.” She glanced down at Peri who nodded shortly. “And that’s Pitch, don’t mind them, they don’t speak much.” The third member of the group, a wiry dark-haired young man, raised a hand before returning to his soup.

Weiss took the outstretched and shook it politely. “Ivory, it’s nice to meet you.”

“She’s polite, I’ll give her that.” Peri grumbled as Lazuli crawled back to her seat. “Aren’t you a bit young to be doing this?” Weiss just shrugged.

“I was unaware there was a minimum age requirement. There doesn’t seem to be much oversight.”

“You’re right there.” Lazuli giggled. “Technically you’re supposed to be nineteen to work as a guard but we’ve had to relax our standards a little, what with the Fall.” The entire group winced at the memory. “What Peri means is young idealistic kids like you who know how to fight are normally off at an academy learning to be hunters.” Weiss frowned a little.

“Well you’re not entirely wrong given I was studying at Beacon until recent events.” The other’s eyes widened, new found respect shining in Peri’s in particular.

“You mean you were there when…?” Peri asked in horrified fascination and Weiss nodded.

“I was fighting to the end and was one of the last to be evacuated.”

“Gods.” Pitch whispered softly as Weiss continued.

“I lost some good friends.” Lazuli nodded sadly.

“It’s hard to find anyone in Vale who didn’t lose someone.” She said solemnly and they all murmured in assent.

“Do you mind if we talk about something else? Bad memories and all that.” Weiss asked and the others agreed quietly, Peri even shifting over to allow Weiss to sit down with them. “So, what did you mean Peri’s Peridot at the moment?” Peri just sighed in resignation.

“She meant that I’m genderfluid. I go by Peridot when I’m presenting as female and Periwinkle when I present as male, but most people just call me Peri because it’s easier for them.” She drawled out with all the enthusiasm of someone who’d had to explain this a great many times.

“I see. Do you have a way of letting people know how you’re presenting? Because I’d hate to misgender you or anything if only by accident.” Peridot’s eyebrows shot up and her cheeks reddened a little.

“I-I wear these bracelets.” She raised her left wrist revealing a set of bright pink lettered beads spelling out ‘she/her’. “I switch them out depending on how I’m feeling.” She fell silent again, still blushing a little.

“Awww, Peri’s embarrassed!” Lazuli cooed, prodding Peridot lightly in the side.

“Shut up Lazuli. Hardly anyone’s asked about that before.” The green-and-blue-haired woman huffed, edging away from Lazuli. “The last person to ask was you.” Lazuli let out a bark of laughter at that.

“Ha! Better be careful then, Ivory, or else Peri’s gonna start crushing on you and you’ll end up like me. Hopelessly smitten with this grumpy little wretch.” Lazuli tousled Peridot’s hair leading to a small slap fight between the pair whilst Weiss and Pitch looked on in light confusion.

“Ooookaaaay...” Weiss finally answered as the ‘fight’ died down. “Well I’m sorry to say but I’m already spoken for.” She wiggled her ring finger for them to see.

“Open or polyamorous relationship?” Peridot asked hopefully.

“Strictly monogamous right now and not the sort of thing I’d want to get into without my partner present. Sorry.” Peridot waved off the tacked on apology.

“Don’t fret over it. It’s fine.” She smiled warmly at Weiss. “Your partner’s a lucky guy. Or girl? Or something else?”

“Girl, and she’s the one who ensured I was educated on gender things.” Weiss admitted, remembering that one afternoon she’d spent with Ruby just talking. It was up there amongst some of Weiss’ fondest moments of dating Ruby, before everything went wrong. “So, how’d you all get into the caravan guarding business?” She asked, trying to divert their attention away from herself lest she get careless and reveal a bit too much.

“Well, funny story that...”

* * *

Weiss spent the rest of the evening with Lazuli and Peridot, talking about inconsequential things, with Pitch chiming in on occasion. Eventually the others decided to turn in and Hong collected Weiss for their watch, which was spent in amicable silence, Weiss feeling rather worn out from the social interactions of the evening.

Despite Hong’s reassurances that the clearing was perfectly safe, the night passed without any incidents save a lone Beowolf that Huang and Kuro took out with minimal fuss. Soon enough, after a quick breakfast of bread toasted over the remains of the fire, the caravan began packing up the supplies they’d unloaded for the evening camp.

As Weiss was carrying a crate full of vegetables to load onto a truck, she was body checked hard and sent sprawling to the ground. Looking up, she saw Huang smirking down at her.

“Whoops, sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all as he extended his hand. Not knowing how she’d annoyed the man and not wanting to irritate him further, Weiss took the outstretched hand. However, when he pulled her to her feet, he stepped in close and hissed into her ear.

“You may have them all fooled, but I know exactly who you are, Schnee.” Weiss’ blood froze, her breathing speeding up.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She stammered out, but Huang just chuckled menacingly.

“Don’t try to lie, you filthy animal. God, you disgust me, a rich bitch who happens to be a Faunus.” He let Weiss pull away a bit but kept a hold of her to keep her from running. “Now, I could reveal just who you are to this lot, but for some reason Hong likes you and I ain’t about to risk this sweet gig I’ve got going for me. Just remember, one toe out of line and they’ll all know.” With that, he released her arm and strolled away, whistling nonchalantly.

Taking a minute to marshal her breathing, Weiss retrieved her crate and stuck it on the first truck she could find before making her way as quickly as possible to Hong and the lead truck.

“You okay there, Ivory? You look kinda rattled.” They asked in concern as she approached.

“No, I’m fine, thanks.” Weiss told him as she boosted herself into the back as the last of the crates were loaded, and the caravan started up and began to move off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure Huang's a great guy really! Anyway, initially when writing this I wanted to keep OCs to a minimum, but by this point I kinda realised they are necessary for the 'Weiss, alone' section. As much as I love her, she can't keep a conversation going by herself and there's no-one one around from canon to help with that.
> 
> Big thanks to machiavellianFictionist for being my proofreader on this.
> 
> As always comments and kudos are greatly apppreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

They don’t stop for lunch, instead Hong gave Weiss a bag of trail mix and passed similar bags along to the rest of the truck.

“Sorry it ain’t much, but we need to make the most of the daylight.” They explained and Weiss nodded in understanding. Winter was closing in fast and so were the nights and night time was when the Grimm were most active.

Not surprising, really, that creatures of pure darkness would have an affinity for the night. Weiss often thought it rather sad that something so beautiful was associated so intrinsically with something so evil. Her mother had told her years ago, before the drinking got too bad, that the night was when things were at their purest. That it was only in darkness that people were true to themselves.

Then again, she and mother had always been aligned with an… _unusual_ sect, though mother had always been the more devout one. Really, she was surprised no-one had called her out for invoking the gods. Although, she ought to be thankful she hadn’t been forced to explain herself. It was a sure-fire way to get accused of worshipping Grimm, which was decidedly not a good thing.

The rest of the day passed without incident, Hong and Cadmia getting bored and playing ‘I spy’ with a disturbing number of their answers being ‘tree’. Weiss mostly just sat on the back of the truck and gazed out across the woods, letting her wings relax a little. She’d been worried at first after accidentally revealing them when she saved Hong the previous day, but other than Huang and a couple of others giving her dirty looks, nobody really seemed to care.

When she’d asked Hong about it later that morning, they’d laughed and said it was the Vacuoan spirit, if you could handle yourself it didn’t matter who or what you were. Naturally, Weiss was somewhat sceptical of this claim, Vale had been purported by Ozpin himself to be a melting pot of cultures and a bastion of acceptance, yet the rally in the city centre had said otherwise. Her concerns were only exacerbated when the caravan approached Upper Cairn that afternoon.

“Hey, Ivory.” Hong called over from where they were sat playing cards with Cadmia whilst Titania looked on in boredom.

“Yes?” She rose and walked over, observing the large stack of lien in front of Cadmia and the far smaller stack before Hong.

“I hate to say this, but I think it would be best if you stay out of sight as much as possible whilst we’re staying here.” They rubbed at the back of their neck, unease rolling off them in waves.

“Why?”

“Upper Cairn ain’t the most… accepting place at the best of times, and in the last few months…” Weiss got the gist, especially when she looked through the glass dividing the back from the driver’s cab and saw, spray painted over the town sign, the message: ‘Animals belong in zoos’. Weiss looked back and noticed Titania was already flattening her snowy white ears and wrapping a bandanna around her head.

“I see.” Hong nodded regretfully as Weiss pulled her cloak closer around her, hiding her wings and pulled her hood up for good measure.

“Just, try to stay outta sight, we’re staying at the inn here for tonight and we’ve got a few things to drop off. If you and Titania just keep to yourselves, I can make some excuses so you don’t have to help unload.” Titania just shrugged and continued looking bored as Hong failed to notice Cadmia switching some of their cards.

“I don’t like it.” Weiss grumbled to Hong, flopping down opposite Titania.

“I don’t either, but our job is to protect the caravan and it’s not that easy to do if some of us get run out of town.” They admitted, throwing down their cards as the blonde opposite them scooped up her winnings. She looked to Titania for support but all she got was a shrug.

“It means I get out of work for an afternoon.” Groaning in irritation, Weiss fixed her gaze on the next round, watching as Cadmia dealt the next hand. It was petty for her not to tell Hong she was dealing them seconds, especially when they’d been nothing but kind to her, but she was in a petty mood right now as the trucks rolled into Upper Cairn.

* * *

The trucks were all parked outside the town depot. Hong had explained quietly as they disembarked that with the state of emergency, aid was being sent out to outlying settlements as well as the goods for the local stores.

“The kingdom’s resources are stretched thin, Grimm attacks have increased on towns all across the continent and they need all the help they can get.” They whispered as they hopped off the truck, leaving Weiss to follow Titania to hang at the back and watch the workers and some of the guards start unloading some of the goods.

“Do you have to do this often?” She asked quietly, not looking up at the intimidatingly tall woman.

“Not really. Never in Vacuo. But once or twice in Vale.” Now that they were alone and without the sound of engines to drown them out, Weiss could now hear the Vacuoan lilt in her voice and she wondered briefly how an arctic fox Faunus coped in the heat of the desert. “But it has gotten worse lately.”

“I just don’t understand.” Weiss sighed heavily, watching the caravan master with his list checking off the various goods as they were unloaded and passed off.

“There is nothing to understand. There is no reason, just hate.” Titania shrugged. “It’s how things have always been.”

“It shouldn’t be.” Weiss muttered under her breath as Huang walked nearby, throwing her an evil look.

“You’ve not been open about being a Faunus for very long, have you?” The tall woman observed shrewdly, idly playing with a knife and waving smugly at Cadmia, who was carrying a particularly heavy-looking box.

“No. I haven’t.” Weiss admitted, annoyed that even though she was working to conceal her identity, bits still kept slipping out.

“It shows, you are unused to the real extent of people’s hatred.” Titania commented as she started flipping the knife end over end. “Although I am impressed you were able to keep those hidden.” She gestured at Weiss’ back.

“Practice, I guess.” Weiss replied non-committally and the taller woman nodded.

“I think they are finishing up now, let’s see whether Hong has anything for us.” She kicked off the wall she’d been leaning up against and sloped towards the burly guard, Weiss trotting along in her wake.

“Okay, I’ve got your bunking arrangements. Lazuli, Peri you’re in a room together, please don’t destroy another bed.” There were a few wolf whistles and cat calls that had Weiss shuddering a little, though the couple took it in stride, collecting their keys from Hong. “Ivory, you’re with Titania and Cadmia. Huang, Kuro, Pitch, you’re sharing too. Then Oka and I have the last one.” They handed the final key over to a russet-haired man who groaned at the collective chuckles of the rest of the group.

“Great, everyone else gets to have fun and I’m stuck with teacher.” He grumbled, drawing more laughter from the group.

“Hey, I’ll have you know I can be very fun.” Hong grumbled to even more raucous laughter from the group.

“Hong, your idea of a fun night involves solving jigsaws and drinking hot cocoa.” Lazuli patted the despondent head guard on the shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Not everyone can be cool.” Peridot just about managed to choke out in between peals of laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I don’t have to put up with this.” Hong groused, fighting hard not to break into a grin. “Just don’t leave town and get to sleep at a reasonable time, we’ve got an early start.”

“Yes, dad.” One of them called out as the group began to disperse, leaving Weiss alone until an arm was slung around her shoulders.

“Hey roomie, fancy coming with us to the bar?” Cadmia smirked as Titania stood aloof to the side.

“Isn’t it a little early to start drinking?” She asked, though not resisting as Cadmia steered her away and towards a nearby building.

“It’s never too early.” The blonde crowed. “C’mon, I’m buying.” She sing-songed, waving the stack of lien she’d cheated off of Hong.

“I’m only eighteen.” Weiss argued weakly.

“Pfft, no-one cares about that out here in the real world.” Cadmia scoffed, pulling Weiss through the open door and into a dimly lit room with a bar taking up the far wall. “Hey, Iridia! Long-time no see!” A purple-haired woman behind the bar looked up and waved at the small group.

“Caddy! I’ll be with ya in a sec.” Grinning broadly, Cadmia guided Weiss over to some stools by the bar and sat her down, Titania settling on the blonde’s other side.

“I’m not getting out of this am I?” Weiss groaned, slumping onto the bar.

“Nope!” Cadmia chirped cheerfully as Iridia came bustling over.

“So who’s your friend?” She asked, smiled brightly at Cadmia.

“’Ridia, meet Ivory. Ivory, this is Iridia, she brews the best whiskey this side of Sanus.” Automatically, Weiss stuck out a hand to shake only for the other three to laugh.

“Well-mannered ain’t she?” Iridia chuckled, though she did take Weiss’ hand briefly. “You two want your usual?” Both Cadmia and Titania nodded and she returned her attention to Weiss. “And what about you, sweetie?”

“Do you have anything non-alcoholic?” Weiss asked nervously, Cadmia groaning loudly from beside her only to be cut off by a glare from Iridia.

“Of course we do sweetie, looking for anything in particular?”

“Just water is fine, thank you.” Iridia bustled off to fetch their drinks while Cadmia fixed Weiss with a baleful look.

“You’re even worse than Hong.” She grumbled. “At least they drink.” She continued to mutter under her breath until Titania laid a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Sometimes people don’t drink alcohol and we don’t judge them for it.” She stated firmly and Cadmia slumped down in her seat.

“Ugh, fine!” She huffed sulkily, although she perked up immediately as Iridia came sauntering back with a large glass of something amber which she set in front of the blonde, a tankard which she passed to Titania and a glass of water for Weiss.

“There ya go Caddy, get that in ya. I know nothing cheers you up faster.” She smirked as Cadmia grabbed the glass and drained about half of it in one go.

“Ah, that hits the spot. Burns real good.” She took another huge gulp ad slammed the now empty glass down on the table. Weiss leaned over and took a cautious sniff, reeling backwards as she felt like she was punched in the nose by the strong smell of alcohol. The only other time she’d smelled it that strongly was when Qrow has just taken a swig from his hip flask and all he ever kept in there was…

“Was that whiskey?” She asked incredulously, eyes widening in horror.

“Yep, told ya Iridia brews the best stuff.” Cadmia grinned as Iridia replaced her glass with a full one. “Why? You wanna try some?” Weiss’ nose wrinkled instinctively at the very thought of touching the stuff.

“No thank you.” She said, a bit sharper than maybe she should’ve and instead took a drink from her own glass.

“Suit yourself.” Cadmia shrugged and sipped at her fresh drink. Sighing softly, Weiss resigned herself to an evening of listening to Cadmia complain about various members of the caravan, interspersed with her hustling a few of the locals on the pool tables. All the while Titania sat and watched impassively, occasionally taking a drink of her beer.

Eventually Weiss had had enough and she rose to her feet, brushing herself off.

“I’m going to turn in.” She announced to Cadmia, who was busy lining up a shot.

“Okay, sure. Good talking with you, Ivory.” She waved her off before neatly potting the ball.

“I’ll keep an eye on Cadmia.” Titania intoned quietly, inclining her head to Weiss who smiled gratefully. She did not want the responsibility of hauling a drunken twenty-something back to their lodgings.

Leaving a few lien for her drink, Weiss made her way out of the bar and into the twilight. After Atlas, she’d thought the air in Vale had been clean, but that was nothing compared to this. She took a deep breath and spent a moment to admire her surroundings. It was a shame such a nice town harboured such a deep hatred for people like her. Even Iridia, charming as she was, still let slip an insult here or there in passing. Weiss had noticed how Titania had stiffened ever so slightly whenever this happened and took a few minutes to relax again.

She wondered briefly just how much of the tall woman’s stand-offish demeanour was due to being a Faunus. Not knowing whether the next person you met would hate you, see you as sub-human, maybe even try to harm you, no matter how charming or pleasant they may seem.

Pushing these uncomfortable thoughts aside, Weiss stepped away from the building and walked slowly towards the caravan’s lodgings. As she passed by the closed general store, however, she heard hushed voices drifting from an alley nearby. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself. Quietly as she could, she slid over to the entrance to the alleyway and cocked her ear to try to make out the conversation.

“-tomorrow okay?” An oddly familiar voice sounded, though Weiss couldn’t quite place it.

“It’d better be.” This one was unfamiliar, deep and gravelly.

“Okay, we done here?”

“Don’t forget. Tomorrow.” Weiss pulled back, trying to blend in with the shadows and failing miserably thanks to her propensity to wear white, as footsteps sounded down the alley and a slim dark figure came hurrying out. Weiss froze, pressed hard against the side of the building, praying they wouldn’t look back. She breathed a sigh of relief when they didn’t, instead heading away in the direction of the caravan’s lodgings. She waited another minute, just in case the other person exited the alley from this side. Luckily they didn’t, so Weiss peeled herself away from the wall and continued towards the lodging.

There was a light on in the small communal area when Weiss entered, and she was not pleased to see it was Huang, sat reading a book.

“Oh, it’s you.” He said shortly, turning a page.

“Did anyone else just come by?” She asked, not wanting to talk to this man who seemed to hate her guts. He fixed her with a baleful glare, mouth curled up in a sneer.

“No, I only just got back myself. Now I’d like to read my book in peace without some filthy mutt disturbing me.” With that he returned to his book and Weiss hurriedly left the room, clambering up the stairs into the room she was sharing with Cadmia and Titania.

No wonder the voice had sounded familiar. She’d thought it had been someone from the caravan, but now she was sure it had been Huang. Quickly changing into her night clothes Weiss crawled into bed and eventually managed to drift off into a fitful sleep, filled with worry about the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything's fine I'm sure. But yeah, things aren't looking all that peachy in the kingdom right now and it's probably going to come to a head at some point. Not much else to say about this one really
> 
> Big thanks to machiavellianFictionist for proof-reading.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

At breakfast, Weiss spent her time eyeing Huang suspiciously. The broad man didn’t seem to be acting any differently, although he was still quite obnoxious and had atrocious table manners.

“You okay there, Ivory? You’ve kinda been glaring at Huang for the last ten minutes.” Periwinkle nudged Weiss with his elbow.

“Oh, I’m fine, thanks.” Weiss answered, hastily focusing on her bowl of cereal.

“Has Huang been harassing you over your... you know?” Lazuli asked, concern etched on her face.

“No, no, nothing like that.” Weiss lied, although neither Lazuli nor Periwinkle looked convinced.

“We can go talk to Hong if-.” Lazuli started but Weiss cut her off.

“No, it’s fine.” She said quickly, stuffing a spoonful of cereal into her mouth and chewing it loudly in a show of deplorable manners to prevent any more discussion.

“So… When did Cadmia and Titania get in last night?” Periwinkle asked, breaking the awkward silence between the three.

“About two in the morning I think.” Weiss groaned. “I got barely any sleep because of them, no thanks to you two either, break any beds?” She scowled at the unrepentantly grinning couple. Not long after Weiss had drifted off, she’d been rather rudely awakened by a loud squeaking and rhythmic thumping. Then came the moaning. To say Weiss had been traumatised would be an understatement.

“Uh… Sorry, not sorry.” Periwinkle shrugged and Lazuli giggled, slapping her partner lightly.

“Don’t be like that, Peri.” She scolded him gently. “We’re sorry we kept you up last night.”

“It’s fine, really.” Weiss waved it off as she finished her cereal, although she did take note of the surreptitious thumbs up Lazuli shot to her partner.

“Hey, could you pass the Pumpkin Pete’s?” Cadmia called from the far end of the table and Lazuli handed over the box of cereal, which Weiss took unthinkingly. Idly glancing down at what had been Ruby’s favourite cereal, she froze as her eyes met a painfully familiar emerald gaze.

“I-I have to go.” She thrust the box blindly into Periwinkle’s hands and fled the scene. How could she have forgotten? Swiping angrily at her face, she burst out of the building and collapsed against the wall, sliding down to the floor.

It was just a picture, why was she breaking down like this? She buried her face in her hands and breathed deeply, trying to calm the manic thumping of her heart.

“Hey, you mind if sit here?” A soothing voice sounded from above. After a moment, Weiss nodded and she heard the sound of someone planting themselves beside her. They stayed silent for a minute then spoke up again.

“You knew Pyrrha Nikos?” Weiss’ companion asked softly and she recognised her as Lazuli.

“Sh-She was my friend and I failed her.” Weiss mumbled miserably, tears tracing down her cheeks behind her hands. “She was the reason I was among the last to be evacuated, she was missing so I stayed back to find her.” She sniffed loudly and a gentle hand made its way to her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.

“All I f-found was her shield and her circlet, there was nothing else left.” Weiss finally choked out before breaking down into full on sobbing. She didn’t resist as Lazuli pulled her into a firm embrace, cooing quietly and smoothing out her hair.

“Shh, shh. It’s okay.” The older woman murmured.

“I-I don’t know why I’m being so pathetic. It was months ago and it was just a stupid picture.” Weiss hiccupped in indignation, though she allowed Lazuli to keep playing with her hair.

“Things can still remind us of who we’ve lost even years after what happened. I won’t claim I’m an expert, but it sounds like you went through a lot of trauma and never really had much of a chance to process it.” Weiss nodded a little, not wanting to dislodge Lazuli’s fingers. Eventually, she pulled herself upright and out of the bald woman’s embrace, wiping away the last of the tears.

“Why are you being so nice to me? We’ve only known each other for two days.” Lazuli just smiled sadly.

“You remind me of my sister, Lapis, she’d be about your age now. She was studying at Pharos.”

“Was?” The older woman nodded again, standing up and walking out of the shadow of the building.

“There was an accident a few years ago. Training exercise that went wrong.” She sighed mournfully, looking back at Weiss. “It’s why I work as a guard now; I couldn’t bear to stay at home. Too many memories.”

“I’m sorry.” Weiss murmured, shame seeping into her voice and her forehead creasing. How could she feel like this over her failure when Lazuli had lost her sister?

“Thanks. And whatever it is you’re thinking, stop it.” Lazuli crouched down in front of Weiss and forced the white-haired girl to meet her gaze. “Your grief over your friend is just as valid as mine over Lapis. It’s not a competition, just because you think someone else’s tragedy is worse than yours doesn’t invalidate your feelings.” Weiss nodded dumbly and Lazuli pulled her to her feet. “I think breakfast’s over, we’ll be getting ready to head out soon.”

“How are you so good at that?” Weiss asked as Lazuli led the way back into the building making the older woman laugh.

“I went to grief counselling after Lapis. It was just the sort of stuff I got told during sessions.” She gave Weiss a brief yet warm smile before waltzing into the mess hall and settling herself beside Periwinkle. Hong looked up from a map that they were poring over with Huang and hustled over to her, looking quite concerned.

“You alright, Ivory. You ran out in quite a hurry.” They asked, cocking their head and reminding Weiss of the way Zwei would sometimes look at her whenever he found her alone.

“Yes, I wasn’t feeling particularly well, but Lazuli helped me.” Weiss deflected, giving Hong a look to tell them not to dig any further.

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better.” They hovered awkwardly for a moment then returned to the map which Huang was still looking over, passing Pitch who had to contort his lanky frame quite impressively to allow the head guard’s bulk to squeeze past. “We’re heading out in ten.” They informed the group as a whole. “Make sure you’ve got everything with you.” All of Weiss’ worldly possessions fit in her satchel, so she didn’t join the mad rush of the others as they scrambled for the stairs. That said, she did hope she’d be able to do her laundry sometime soon. Only one pair of trousers was not enough.

Leaving Hong, Huang, and Pitch, she collected up her bag and left the room, stepping back out into the brisk morning air. Soon enough the rest of the guards had assembled into a reasonably organised group and proceeded over to the caravan where the rest of the convoy were busy refuelling the trucks. Weiss watched as Huang clambered onto the last truck in line whilst she followed Hong into the lead truck as usual. She briefly considered asking to be relocated to the same truck as Huang so she could keep an eye on him, but figured that wouldn’t go down too well. Obnoxious as the man may be, the guards were still a close-knit group and probably wouldn’t take too kindly to any suspicion on one of their own.

Once everyone was aboard and the trucks finished refuelling, Hong knocked twice on the divider and the convoy rumbled into life, pulling out and trundling away from Upper Cairn. The moment they were out of sight of the town, Titania pulled her bandanna off and Weiss followed suit, letting her wings relax and stretch out.

“Remind me to never pay Upper Cairn a casual visit.” She instructed Hong. “My wings haven’t been this stiff in months.”

* * *

Weiss had been dozing gently, trying to catch up on some of the sleep she’d been denied, when the truck slowed down all of a sudden.

“Wha-? What’s happening?” She asked groggily, rubbing at her eyes and looking to Hong, who was gazing through the glass divider.

“Tree in the road.” They said, hand nervously tapping a rhythm on the wall.

“A trap then.” Weiss stated, already checking the power levels on Penny Dreadful.

“Most likely.” Hong confirmed. “But we have to stop, it’s too big to go over or through.” Weiss groaned in irritation, now looking at the Dust levels in Lilie der Rache.

“I want you to slip out after me and get under the truck, out of sight.” They told her, thumbing the safety off their shotgun.

“Why me?” She asked, as they rose and started walking to the back of the truck, Titania getting up and following.

“You’re the best fighter we’ve got. I don’t want you caught in the initial ambush. When the shooting starts, do your thing and we should be fine.” The said with confidence, though Weiss didn’t quite agree. She’d already been suspicious of Huang and it wouldn’t surprise her in the least if this was what ‘tomorrow’ had referred to when she’d been eavesdropping last night.

She was just about to warn Hong of about Huang when they gestured and led the way out. Weiss was forced to quickly slip out behind them and, using their bulk to hide her, she ducked and rolled under the truck. Just a year ago she would’ve kicked up a massive fuss over getting dirty, crawling around in the mud. She let out a soft huff of laughter at just how much things had changed as she drew Penny Dreadful and waited.

She didn’t have to wait long. She watched as Hong and Titania strode over to the tree and bent to lift it up. The moment they did so, the first shots rang out from the trees either side of them, some plinking off the trucks and a few finding the pair at the tree, who dropped and drew their weapons. Weiss could hear the sounds of the other guards leaping out of the trucks and could just make out movement in the trees getting closer. Taking this as her cue, she rolled out and sprang into a sprint towards the first source of movement. Gunfire rang out, but with a flick of her wrist, glyph sprang into being, blocking the shots as she darted into the undergrowth.

There a few metres in front of her stood a scrawny man holding a pistol aimed directly at her. He tried to shoot her again but she blocked it easily, covering the distance between them and disarming him with a flick of Penny Dreadful. He threw a punch, but she caught it on her wing and threw him back, following up with a powerful blow to the side of his head with the hilt of her weapon, knocking him cold.

Following the sounds of fighting, she burst back out of the trees to see a few of the bandits advancing on Pitch, Lazuli, and Periwinkle, who had taken refuge behind one of the trucks. Thinking fast, she spun the barrel of Lilie and slammed her fist into the ground. Aura sparked and the Rock Dust caught, sending a trail of rocky spikes racing towards the attackers, bowling them over.

The sound of gunfire was everywhere, Weiss rose to her feet and looked around. Hong was busy punching the face of some hapless thug and the rest of the guards didn’t seem to be faring too badly. Where was Huang though, she couldn’t see him amid the confusion. Then she heard a worrying click beside her ear. Slowly turning her head, she was face to face with Huang’s gun.

“Should’ve known a filthy animal like you would turn traitor. This is why we don’t take on newbies, they’re always up to something.” He snarled, and Weiss stepped back in confusion.

“Traitor, what are you talking about? You’re the traitor! I heard you talking to that guy last night in the alleyway!” The broad man cocked his head in confusion.

“What alleyway? You animals are all the same, lying crooks.” Huang jabbed his gun closer to Weiss, unheeding of how the tide of battle had turned against them without the two of them fighting.

“I’m not lying, how could I set this up anyway? I don’t know the route we’re taking! You were looking at the map this morning with Hong and-!” Realisation dawned in Huang’s eyes just as it hit Weiss. She’d been so caught up in not trusting Huang because of his attitude, she’d completely failed to notice he wasn’t thin enough to be the person she’d seen fleeing the alleyway. But someone else was, someone else who’d had plenty of time to look at the map whilst they were busy trying to get past Hong.

A loud crack drew their attention and the swivelled to see Pitch holding Lazuli in a headlock, gun pointed at her head, the last of her aura crackling and fading away.

“Alright, I think that’s enough!” He called out and glancing around the clearing she saw that the rest of the guards were also being held at gunpoint, though not disarmed yet. “I reckon we can get this done without much more bloodshed.”

“Pitch, why? I thought we were friends.” Hong asked, appalled. Their voice was quiet but it carried across the silence.

“Money was better.” He shrugged, driving the barrel of his gun deeper into Lazuli’s temple. “Now drop your weapons.” There was a moment’s hesitation, then slowly, one by one, the guards dropped their weapons to be scooped up by the bandits. Only Weiss remained armed, her sword clutched in an iron grip.

“You too, little huntress!” He called out smugly.

“Just drop it, the shipment ain’t worth Lazuli.” Huang growled from beside her. She hesitated for another moment until she saw Periwinkle’s distraught face and the sheer panic in Lazuli’s eyes. Sighing deeply and gritting her teeth, she dropped Penny Dreadful on the ground, making sure Lilie was safely tucked beneath her cloak.

“Good.”

A loud crack rent the air and Pitch released his hold on Lazuli. She slumped to the ground, eyes wide and glassy, staring unseeing up at the sky.

“That’s to make sure none of you get any ideas.”

She was at Beacon tower all over again. Not strong enough. She’d thought she was better now, stronger. But it hadn’t been enough. Periwinkle had thrown himself to the ground and was cradling Lazuli. Pitch was saying something, but she couldn’t hear over the buzzing thrum in her ears.

She wasn’t good enough. She needed to be better. Needed to be stronger. Her right arm tingled as she breathed hard and didn’t notice the wildly spinning dark glyph manifest behind her.

She did notice the earth-shaking boom that followed and she spun and gazed up in awe as a giant rocky knight seemed to crawl out of the ground and stood to attention before her.

“What the fuck is that!?” Weiss’ head snapped back to see the all the bandits gazing up in fear at the giant.

“Who cares, shoot it!” Pitch screamed, opening fire as the other bandits joined in. Their small arms fire proved incredibly useless against a walking rock, though, and it stomped forward, sweeping several aside in one sweep of its stony sword. The rest of the guards were too stunned to move, shocked by this gigantic golem that had miraculously joined their side.

Weiss, on the other hand, ducked to retrieve her sword and zeroed in on Pitch. Rushing between the legs of her stone knight she saw Pitch’s eyes widen in fear as she crashed into him, sending them both crashing to the ground. Weiss was the first to rise, slamming a hard kick into Pitch’s gut as he tried to crawl to his feet. A second kick landed, then a third. On the fourth he managed to catch her foot and shove her off balance. There were yells of fear around them as the stone golem continued its rampage through the bandits, but the area surrounding Weiss and Pitch was oddly tranquil.

“Who _are _you?” He asked in disbelief, blood trickling from his mouth as he pulled out a dagger.

“Someone you really don’t want to make angry.” Frost dripped from her tone as she raised her sword to point directly at Pitch’s chest. There was a moment’s pause, then both combatants rushed each other. Weiss smoothly parried each of his strikes, replying with several of her own which found their way through his patchy guard.

Finally, he made a mistake too bad to return from and Weiss easily caught his arm and brought her bracer down hard, shattering his aura and his arm in one final blow. His scream of agony cut through the sounds of battle around them as he staggered back, dropping the dagger and clutching his broken arm to his chest.

“Okay, you win.” Pitch babbled out, backing away and tripping backwards as Weiss advanced coldly, Penny Dreadful shifting form. His eyes grew wide in terror as she calmly raised the gun to his forehead and took a deep breath.

She ignored Hong’s shouts, her eyes sliding shut as she squeezed the trigger.

* * *

“_Have you ever killed someone?” Qrow paused in his sharpening of Harbinger and looked up at Weiss. He was leaving soon and Weiss had left Ruby to talk with Yang now that she was awake._

“_What?”_

“_You said you’ve been on missions for Ozpin, covert missions no doubt without much overview.” She stated calmly, settling herself down beside him._

“_I see.” He returned to whetting his blade for a few minutes before he answered._

“_A few times, never someone who didn’t deserve it.” He set the whetstone down and looked shrewdly over at Weiss. “So who was it?”_

“_A member of the White Fang.” She didn’t even bother trying to deny it. “He threatened Ruby, so I killed him.” Qrow hummed in thought._

“_Sometimes we have to do things that aren’t easy, for the ones we love.” His voice gravelled out, as he turned his gaze to the woods. “And sometimes we have to sacrifice a part of ourselves for the greater good. What we do may not always be good or easy, but we have to believe that it is still right."_

* * *

Weiss’ eyes opened again to a silent clearing. Refusing to look at what had once been Pitch, she looked over the assembled guards and the badly beaten bandits, guarded by her stone knight.

“I trust this means none of you will get any ideas.” She addressed them icily, and there was scattered nodding and fearful assent. The rest of the guards just looked on in shock and perhaps a touch of fear themselves. Stowing Penny Dreadful, Weiss looked up at her summon. This was a surprise, and something Winter had never mentioned happening before with her summons.

Politely, she bowed to the knight, thanking it for its service, and with a wave of her hand it melted back into the ground. She approached the huddled bandits and was about to ask Hong what they should do with them, when she caught sight of a familiar red-banded black bowler hat.

It couldn’t be, Ruby had said he’d been swallowed whole by a Griffon. Storming over, she pushed aside the terrified bandits to find one looking completely unafraid. She glared defiantly up at Weiss with mismatched eyes, though a hint of a smile played across her lips as Weiss growled.

“Neo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who it is! And I'm sure everything's fine with Weiss widening her remit for vengeance. Poor Lazuli. So yeah, we'll see how this pans out especially Weiss ain't doing so well.
> 
> Big thanks to machiavellianFictionist for proof-reading!
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

Weiss was careful to never forget a face, even the ones she’d thought she’d never see again. Still, it was very surprising to see Roman Torchwick’s lackey out in the wilds of Vale in the company of a pack of bandits. The small woman smirked infuriatingly up at Weiss and her hands moved into a quick flurry which Weiss recognised but didn’t understand.

“I don’t speak ASL.” Her voice was still cold, and annoyingly the pastel woman only grinned wider as she pulled out a scroll and tapped out a quick message.

‘😁 Good to see you too Ice Queen. 😄’ As Weiss was about to answer, she heard heavy footfalls behind her and she turned to face Hong, who looked more than a little upset at how thing had played out.

“Ivory, what is it?” The mute girl burst into to quiet wheezes, fingers flying across the screen.

‘It’s Ivory now is it? 😂😂😂’ Weiss scowled at the smaller woman, her left hand twitching towards Penny Dreadful. This multicoloured nightmare had been at least in part responsible for what happened at Beacon and anger was still coursing through her veins.

“Ivory, do you know this girl?” Hong broke in, looking between the pair as Neo looked up at them innocently, tapping out a fresh message.

‘You could say that. 😏’ Hong just looked to Weiss in confusion, not noticing Neo surreptitiously typing out a new message which she showed to Weiss.

‘I suggest you play along, 😉 unless you want them all to know who you are. 😉’ She bit back a groan of exasperation as the other bandits looked among themselves in bafflement of what was going on.

“Yes, I know her, unfortunately.” Weiss bit out, glaring at Neo who cheerfully waved up at Hong. “Hong, this is Neo. She’s a friend from Beacon, though what she’s doing here I have no idea.” She glared at the irritating half-pint.

‘I was trying to get to Anima when I was picked up by this lot, I didn’t have much of a choice. 😢😢’ Weiss rolled her eyes at the tears welling up in Neo’s. From what Yang and Ruby had told her of this woman, she was almost certainly enjoying playing bandit.

“So what do we do with this lot?” Weiss asked Hong, looking at the rest of the awkwardly shuffling bandits, Neo sliding out of their midst to stand beside Weiss.

“We let them go.” They said grudgingly after a moment of contemplation.

“We what!?” Weiss’ shout was echoed by Periwinkle, who was still crouched by Lazuli.

“There’s not enough room in the trucks for us to take them to the nearest town and their leader’s not in much of a state to be arrested.” They glanced over at the dark shape crumpled on the floor. “There’s been enough bloodshed today.”

“But Hong, what about Lazuli? They need to pay for what they did!” Periwinkle shouted angrily, gently laying Lazuli on the ground and stalking up to Hong.

“I’m sorry about Lazuli, but I think they’ve paid enough.” For the first time, Weiss looked properly at the bandits and saw they were in a very sorry state, some clutching various broken bones and injuries. Her summon had really done a number on them.

“They haven’t! It will never be enough!” Periwinkle screamed, tears streaking his face. He moved forward as though he was about to attack the bandits when, to Weiss’ surprise, he was restrained lightly by Neo.

“Let go of me! This is your fault too!” Periwinkle tried to pull free but Neo held firm, tapping something out with her free hand and showing it to him. After a moment he ceased his struggles and read the message, looking back to Neo.

“How long ago?” He choked out and Neo typed out a fresh message for him to see. Weiss watched as his eyes flickered back and forth, reading the message before he looked back up at Neo and then over at Lazuli’s crumpled body.

“Fine.” Neo dropped her hand and let Periwinkle go to his lover, all the fight seemingly drained by whatever she’d said to him.

“What did you say to him?” Weiss asked softly, walking up to Neo. Frankly, she was stunned that an unrepentant criminal such as her would do something like that. The multicoloured girl just shrugged and typed out.

‘I told him I’d lost someone dear to me as well and that I understood his grief.’ She erased the text and showed her a new one.

‘And that hurting or killing these idiots wouldn’t do any good. Pitch is dead and justice for his love has been served.’ She smirked up at Weiss, who regarded the short woman curiously.

“Justice, that’s what you call it?”

‘Don’t ask me, you’re the one who killed him. Never thought you had it in you ice queen. 😈😈’ Weiss just frowned.

“Clearly there’s a lot you don’t know about me.” She turned away from Neo and headed back over to Hong, who was busy organising the remaining guards. “So what happens now?” She asked them.

“We get this tree out of the way and we carry on. We’ll bury Lazuli and Pitch at the next town.” They looked down at her, but didn’t quite meet her eyes. “But we can’t stick around for too long. We’ve got more shipments to make and a schedule to keep.” Weiss considered briefly questioning why they were taking the traitor’s body but thought better of it. A couple of the other guards were looking at her strangely, almost like they were afraid of her.

So she nodded silently instead and watched the bandits limp away under the close eye of Kuro and Huang. All except one, who skipped over to the departing group and retrieved a parasol from one before cheerily waving goodbye and heading back over to Weiss.

“No, no no no. We are not doing this.” Weiss stated firmly at the diminutive girl smirked up at her.

‘Do you want me to keep your little secret or not? 😉😉’ The white-haired girl just glared at her.

“They’ve just watched me kill a man, I hardly think my identity is that much worse.” She hissed, only for the multicoloured girl to grin wider.

‘So you’d be perfectly fine if I were to tell them all you’re Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC and currently holder of the second largest bounty the White Fang have put out? 🤣🤣’ Weiss jaw dropped, looking around to make sure people weren’t paying attention to her, she grabbed Neo by the front of her jacket and pulling her over to an idling truck.

“What do you mean heiress? I got disinherited.” She didn’t think Neo’s grin could get any wider.

‘There was no announcement from the SDC about it, so the White Fang put out a bounty on your head for _crimes against the Faunus _and _being a race traitor. _Their words not mine.’ She was enjoying this far too much as she continued.

‘That sucks for you doesn’t it? 😭 No family money to support you all alone out in the wilds with the White Fang after your head. 😢😢’ Weiss was only half paying attention, she was too busy trying to work out why on Remnant Jacques Schnee wouldn’t release an immediate statement stating she’d severed all ties to the SDC and her family.

“Why though? why wouldn’t he make the announcement as soon as it was agreed?” She asked of no-one in particular. However, her answer came in the form of a single line of text.

‘How old were you? 😕😕’ Weiss groaned in annoyance. Of course it was something like that. For all their permissiveness when it came to the treatment of children, Atlas family law was very keen on making it extraordinarily difficult to disinherit or otherwise remove them from your family, at least until they were of age. Jacques Schnee must not have wanted to deal with all the red tape and instead elected to wait for Weiss’ birthday only a few weeks later. But now with the CCT down, no announcement could be made. So as far as the rest of the world were concerned, her status hadn’t changed one bit.

“Gods, this is a mess.” The not-so-ex-heiress moaned, letting her head smack back against the truck.

‘Well it can be less messy if you just let me tag along. 😁’ Neo was enjoying this far too much, but it seemed she had no real choice. Though she didn’t believe Hong or the others would deliver her to the Fang, despite her recent actions, she wasn’t certain they’d let her stick around either.

“Fine, I’ll see what I can do. But you’d better keep your mouth shut.” She instructed the smaller woman, who nodded happily.

‘I won’t say a word. 🤐’ Weiss simply glared at Neo for a long minute, seeing the painfully obvious loophole, until finally the shorter woman slumped in surrender. ‘Fine, I won’t let anyone know about your identity. Happy now? 😠’

“It’s a start.” And with that, Weiss led Neo away from the truck and over to Hong, who was overseeing the tree being hauled out of the way. “Hong, I have a favour to ask.” The tall guard turned to the pair and their eyebrows raised when they saw Neo was still there.

“I can guess what it is, but go on.”

“Neo needs a ride to Dolmen. You saw what happened to her when she was on her own, she got caught up with a bunch of bandits.” Weiss wheedled as Neo tried her best to look innocent and pleading, holding the bowler to her chest. Hong sighed deeply, resting their face in their hand.

“I don’t know, Ivory. This ain’t exactly the best time for us to be picking someone else up. ‘Specially someone who was involved in an attack that took two of our own.” They lifted their head to look at Weiss. “Not to mention the group being kinda jumpy ‘round you after what you just did.”

“Jumpy? Why?” Weiss cocked her head in confusion. She understood why the bandits had been afraid, but the guards?

“That’s why. Ivory, you just killed someone and you’re completely calm about it.” Hong looked at her, deep worry etched across their face. “I’m not condemning what you did, but I ain’t gonna say what you did was right either.” Weiss looked up at them, not bothering to hide the hurt. How could her actions be wrong?

“Look, we do need someone else to stand in for Lazuli until we reach Dolmen and can sort something out there.” Hong sighed deeply, looking between the two. “If you can vouch for this Neo, then we can bring her. Just maybe try to stay out of everyone else’s way for a little while okay?”

“Thank you, I’ll make sure she keeps out of trouble and everyone’s way.” Weiss assured them, throwing a sharp look at Neo, who just rolled her eyes and shot a beaming grin up at Hong, showing them a message.

‘Thank you! 😄😄 I promise you won’t regret letting me come with. 😁😁😁’ Hong just shook their head, chuckling wearily at Neo’s eclectic method of communication.

“Right, if you two wouldn’t mind taking up the rear truck, Peri’s riding with me.” The pair nodded and headed to the back of the convoy, climbing into the last truck and awaiting the caravan’s departure.

“So what are you really doing out here?” Weiss asked the shorter woman the moment she was sure they were alone in the back of the truck.

‘I told you, I was headed to Anima but I got caught up with those losers. 😓😓 I’ve been stuck robbing people out here for about a month.’

“Like you couldn’t just leave whenever you wanted.” Weiss scoffed, slumping against the truck wall and letting her wings spread to fill the rest of the low bench.

‘It’s not that easy to travel through the wilds without transport and they kept a close eye on me. 😠😠’ Neo huffed irritably.

“Sure. what are you going to Anima for, anyway? Heading to Haven to meet up with Cinder and her lot for whatever you’ve got planned next?” Weiss scowled even deeper at the diminutive woman, who shook her head vehemently before pausing and shrugging.

‘Okay, so maybe I am going to Haven to meet up with Cinder and her little lost lambs. Mainly so I can stick a blade through whatever she has that passes for a heart. 😈’ Weiss read the message, then returned her gaze to Neo in shock.

“What?”

‘Full disclosure, yeah I was involved in the Fall and maybe I was enjoying myself a bit too much. 😅😅 But that was all Roman’s idea and I owed him.’ Neo sniffed a little, fingering her bowler, before continuing to type. ‘We had it good, but Miss Firey Britches had to rock up and Roman was never great at refusing a pretty face.’

“So now you want revenge because he died?” Weiss asked, knowing she was right, but wanting confirmation.

‘It’s not revenge, it’s justice. Roman saved me and I owed him my life. But now he’s dead and the last thing I can do to repay my debt to him is make sure I end Cinder Fall’s miserable existence.’ Weiss let out a mirthless chuckle at this as the trucks began to move off.

“You’re going to have to wait in line then, because Cinder’s head is mine for what she did to Pyrrha.” Neo’s jaw dropped, then she typed out a fresh message.

‘Damn, you really are full of surprises Schnee. 😆’

“I suppose I am.” Weiss smiled tightly as the trucks rumbled on towards their next destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cue the someone has joined your party music! And I hope you don't hate emojis, because that's how Neo talks. I'll be honest, she's my favourite character to write since I have a fair amount of leeway with her character and I'm sure she won't be a terrible influence on Weiss.
> 
> Also a gentle reminder to people who have read Caress Me not to put spoilers in the comments please.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

‘_Hello, my name is I-V-O-R-Y.’ _Weiss looked over at Neo for confirmation and received a thumbs up.

“It still feels odd, though.” Weiss complained, flexing her fingers. She’d insisted Neo teach her some ASL, partly out of boredom from being stuck alone together in the truck, but also out of courtesy to the diminutive woman. It was rather awkward for her to keep typing out messages to Weiss, so she felt she had to make some effort to understand her new companion, even if she didn’t completely trust the multicoloured girl.

‘Like I said, I don’t know the left-handed alphabet. 😜’ Weiss rolled her eyes at the message. Admittedly there were some flaws to having only Neo as a resource. Weiss was half-convinced that most of what Neo was teaching her was A: wrong and B: incredibly rude. Then again, Neo had already insisted on teaching her every rude gesture she knew despite her protests.

“Of course.” She sighed, fiddling idly with Lilie der Rache.

‘What did happen to that toothpick of yours? 🤔’ Neo asked, looking curiously at the bracer.

“First, I find that appellation ironic coming from the woman with a stiletto hidden in her umbrella.” Neo scowled and employed one of the many rude gestures she’d just taught Weiss. Those lessons were paying off already. “Second, it got broken fighting an Atlesian Paladin.” Weiss looked curiously at Neo, who winced slightly at that and gave her a sheepish grin.

‘Funny story about that actually. 😅 Roman and I maaaaaay have been the ones who hijacked the Atlesian army. Sorry? 😅’ Weiss only groaned. Really, she shouldn’t be all that surprised, she was riding with an unabashed and unrepentant murderer after all. Then again, she didn’t have much of a leg to stand on either when it came to being an unrepentant murderer. Although at least the people Weiss had killed deserved it.

“You know, the fact that you tried to kill my beloved and her sister was already straining my ability to be civil to you, but you’re really pushing it, pint-size.” Weiss growled and Neo just shrugged.

‘Look I regret what I did back then, but you can’t change the past. If it makes you feel better, I’m sorry I tried to kill your _beloved_ and your friend. Happy? 😓’ Weiss snorted in irritation.

“Not really. But it’ll do for now.” Neo just sighed is exasperation.

‘We’re not on opposite sides any more, our goals are aligned and we will take immense satisfaction once Cinder Fall is dead. 😈’

“We shouldn’t, this isn’t something to enjoy. It shouldn’t have even come to this.” Weiss muttered darkly, clicking the barrels of Lilie around.

‘Oh please. These guys are worse than I am, they kill for fun and stuff.’ Neo shoved her scroll into Weiss’ face, who pushed it away, still muttering darkly.

“Oh, like you don’t have fun killing?”

‘I have fun with what I do, I don’t do it for fun. Big difference, ice queen. Not to mention that there are lines, the Fall crossed one of mine.’

“Huh, who’d have thought the amoral criminal has lines.” The not-so-ex-heiress snorted with mirthless laughter.

‘Let me tell you something ice queen. Roman and I would happily steal and rob and rampage our way through all four kingdoms. These people want to destroy them. Tell me this, what the point of being a thief if there’s no one to steal from?’ Neo glared coldly at Weiss.

“So it’s pragmatism then, not morality that drives you.” Weiss sniped back.

‘And it’s something I won’t apologise for either. It’s in my best interests to not let the world fall apart given I’m one of the suckers who lives in it. And if offing Cinder means I can get some justice for Roman, all the better.’ Neo scrutinised Weiss for a moment, running a finger over the bowler again, then typed out a continuation. ‘Isn’t that what you want? Justice for Pyrrha Nikos? For Penny Polendina? That’s why you have her sword right?’

“Is it really justice, though? How is this not just petty vengeance?” Weiss murmured quietly. She hadn’t doubted her mission before, but the reaction of Hong and the others had shaken her conviction.

‘Of course it’s justice, the oldest kind there is. Life for life and death for death.’ Weiss was taken aback by the intensity of Neo’s gaze.

“An eye for an eye would leave the world blind.” Weiss tried to argue feebly, remembering her mother’s lessons.

‘Yet you executed your friend’s killer.’ Neo pointed out. ‘We can’t bring back those we lost. But we can make sure that the ones responsible join them in the void.’ A few long moments passed as the trucks rumbled on until Weiss finally nodded in agreement.

“No punishment could ever be enough for those-.” Weiss finished the sentence with one of Neo’s extremely rude gestures, coaxing a short wheezing laugh from the multicoloured girl.

‘You learn fast, ice queen.’ She smirked approvingly at Weiss, who allowed herself a small smile in return.

* * *

It was getting dark when they finally rolled into Henge. No-one spoke as they climbed out of the trucks and began unloading. That said, there was an awful lot of silent swearing from Neo, whose hands were a blur as she complained to Weiss about the evils of manual labour. For her part, Weiss just went about her business carrying the supplies and trying to ignore the looks she was receiving from the other guards. Once or twice she’d caught Huang glaring at her, but that soon stopped when he bumped into Neo tapping her parasol threateningly.

It was a strange feeling, being not-quite-friends with Neo. She’d found out the other woman was only eighteen, and from Atlas of all places, though she refused to elaborate any further. Oddly enough they’d bonded over a shared love of history, the older one even confessing that she’d spent most of her off-time visiting the Vale museum whilst she continued to teach Weiss how to sign. There was still a tension between the pair of them, a history that couldn’t quite be ignored or forgotten. But for now, Neo was right, their goals were aligned and they got on surprisingly well.

Eventually, they finished the unloading and the guards formed a loose circle around Hong, though there was a noticeable gap between the others and Weiss and Neo.

“I’ve got rooms key for you all, Ivory you’re bunking with Neo this time, Peri you’re with Cadmia and Titania.” The relevant parties nodded and collected their respective keys and Hong handed out the others. “I’m going to see the priest about getting something done for Lazuli and Pitch. It’ll probably be early, before breakfast. So don’t wake up too late if you want to come. Otherwise, the evening’s yours.” They told the group, who made various noises of quiet agreement and split up, leaving Weiss stood awkwardly with Neo.

‘_What should we do?’ _The signs came a little slower than usual to allow Weiss more chance of understanding them.

“Whatever you want, I’m not your keeper.” Weiss said absently, watching after Periwinkle, who was trudging away down the main street. She was about to follow him when a hand caught her sleeve and she looked back at Neo, who was shaking her head vigorously.

‘Leave him, he needs some time to process.’ Weiss shot one more look in the direction Periwinkle had gone before relenting.

“Fine. What do you want to do?” She watched as Neo tapped her chin in mock thought before clicking her fingers and tapping out a message.

‘There’s a bar just over there. 😄’ Her eyebrows raised as Weiss groaned.

“I went to a bar last night, and I don’t drink either.” She told the diminutive woman who shrugged.

‘You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to, but it’d be nice to have the company. 😁😁 I’m paying! 😁😁’ Weiss raised her own eyebrow as Neo withdrew a wallet and shook it.

“There’s no way that’s yours.” Weiss stated flatly, looking at what was clearly a man’s wallet, ignoring the fact that she had one of her own of a similar design, finding it far more useful than purses had ever been.

‘You’re right, I guess drinks aren’t on me. They’re on Huang. 😏.’ The shorter girl grinned evilly at Weiss’ horrified face.

“Huang? Are you kidding me?!” She screeched as loudly as she dared. “He hates my guts!” Neo only nodded gleefully.

‘And he’s a racist git who deserves to have his wallet stolen. 😝😝’ The multicoloured woman had to take a step back as Weiss made a swipe for the wallet.

“Give me that! I’m going to give it back to him!” She hissed, making another grab, but Neo deftly avoided her, simultaneously typing out a new message in an annoying display of dexterity.

‘So he can accuse you of stealing it in the first place?’

“But I’d be returning it.” Weiss grunted, throwing herself at Neo, only for her quarry to shatter into fragment beneath her and send Weiss sprawling on the ground. Growling, she flipped over to be greeted with Neo’s scroll.

‘All he’d say is you’re a pathetic animal who chickened out at the last moment.’ Weiss paused as she was about to spring up. He may not have been behind the attack, but that didn’t absolve him of all his other sins.

‘Think of it as enacting justice upon him for his bigoted views. 😂.’ That pushed Weiss over an edge she didn’t know she was teetering on. Scrambling to her feet she smirked down at Neo.

“Lead the way then.” Grinning widely, Neo gestured elaborately with her parasol and led the way down the street to what was presumably the bar. The shorter woman took great delight in kicking open the door to the bar and sauntering in, closely followed by Weiss. She couldn’t help but admire the way Neo waltzed in like she owned the place, despite it being a small local pub rather than a swanky upscale bars Neo probably frequented back in Vale. She noticed Titania nursing a beer off in a corner of the room and Cadmia busy hustling some poor local at pool.

Neo strolled over to the bar and plonked herself down and placed her hat reverently beside her, leaving Weiss to take a seat on the other side.

“We don’t serve minors.” The bartender drawled out from the other end, where he was busy serving some of the locals.

“They’re with us!” Cadmia called over, giving the bartender a thumbs up, and he nodded, sliding over to Weiss and Neo.

“Fine, fine. What’ll you girls be having?” He asked the pair, and Neo whipped out her scroll and thumbed through until she found what looked like an old message.

‘Strawberry sunrise for me and a bourbon for the gentleman. 😁’ The bartender cocked an eyebrow at the message.

“You mean your friend here?” He gestured to Weiss, and Neo hastily checked the message, eyes widening before tapping out a quick sentence.

‘No no no. not for my friend here, she’ll have a virgin indigo sunset.’ The bartender groaned quietly and muttered something about ‘kids and their fancy-ass mixed drinks’, moving away to start making them before asking Neo:

“And the bourbon?”

‘Could you just pour a glass and leave it?’ The man shrugged and went about his drinks making, leaving Weiss and Neo sat in silence, the diminutive girl looking sadly at her scroll.

“That was Torchwick’s order, wasn’t it?” Neo nodded and, after a moment of hesitation, started deleting the note. “Hey, what are you doing?” Neo didn’t look up until the note only read:

‘Strawberry sunrise for me. 😁’ Concern bubbled up in Weiss chest.

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

‘_Yes? No? I don’t know!’ _Neo gesticulated forcefully before returning to her scroll. ‘It hurts whenever I see something that reminds me of him. But I still spent weeks sifting through the wreckage of that airship to find this because he loved the damn thing so much.’ She ran a finger around the rim of the hat

At this point the bartender returned and placed the bright red and yellow drink in front of Neo who promptly downed it and slammed the glass back on the bar along with more lien.

‘_Another’_ She signed at the bartender who just looked on in confusion.

“She wants another.” Weiss supplied and the bartender nodded warily, setting Weiss’ drink in front of her and the bourbon off to the side. Taking the lien, he hurried off again as Neo contemplated the glass of bourbon morosely, fingers flying across the screen of her scroll.

‘I never got why he liked this stuff so much, it’s not sweet at all.’ She huffed out an annoyed breath and took a reluctant sip, only to screw her face up in disgust and shove it away towards the hat. Weiss had no idea what to say, so she sipped at her drink instead and watched as the bartender returned with a fresh glass for Neo.

‘It used to be just him and me against the world.’ Neo grimaced as she necked her second glass and beckoned over the bartender. ‘We were going to make it big together. Roman and Neopolitan, master criminals. But now he’s gone and left me alone. What do I do now?’ She gave Weiss a pleading look. ‘When we’ve dealt with Cinder, what do I do then?’

“Sorry, but I don’t know.” Weiss answered weakly whilst Neo downed her third drink.

‘Damnit.’ She typed, fingers moving hesitantly as the alcohol started catching up to her. ‘I shoud stop thinking about this depresssing shit. I need somethin to cheer me up.’ As if on cue, there was a shout from the pool table.

“Hey, that’s my money, you thieving bitch!” The pair at the bar swivelled on their stools to see a fairly drunk red-faced man hollering at Cadmia who was tucking a stack of lien into her shirt.

“Hey, I won, fair and square. If you didn’t want to part with your money, you shouldn’t have bet so much.” The blonde woman smirked, twirling the pool cue nonchalantly. The man, however, didn’t let up.

“You cheated. I know you did!” He hollered, advancing menacingly on Cadmia. Beside Weiss, Neo’s eyes seemed to light up with undisguised glee.

“Well I don’t know what you can really do about it.” Cadmia replied, tapping the cue against the floor.

“Oh yeah? Fellas, looks like we’ve got someone need of teaching a few manners.” Most of the other patrons of the bar rose to their feet and also began advancing on the lone woman.

“Gentlemen, please. I’m sure we can sort this out without any need for violence.” Cadmia chuckled nervously, eyes flying around the room.

“Oh, we’re long past that point, sweetheart. Get her boys.” One of the men surrounding Cadmia lunged, only to have a pool cue smashed around her head. That was when pandemonium broke loose. Weiss watched as Cadmia swung wildly with her improvised weapon at her attackers. Off in the corner Titania groaned and finished her beer before leaping into the fray to help her friend. As this was all happening, Weiss noticed the bartender quickly grab a few bottles of what looked like the expensive alcohol and vanished behind the bar whilst Neo bounced eagerly in her chair.

‘Do u mind? 😁😁’ Weiss rolled her eyes and gestured for Neo to go ahead. It looked like Cadmia and Titania could use a hand anyway. Grinning broadly, Neo hopped off her seat, snatching up the bowler and perching it upon her head, before taking her parasol and skipping off into the fray.

Weiss had never seen Neo fight before, watching as she sipped at her drink. It was a sight to behold. She performed elegant flips and kicks, parasol spinning around and smacking into the various patrons. One errant punch sent a man sprawling towards Weiss who was forced to quickly hop aside as he crashed into her stool.

Unfortunately, this was taken as Weiss entering the fight as well, and some of the drunken attackers turned their attention to her. As Weiss calmly sidestepped one of the men, she mildly regretted not having some non-lethal weapon to make things easier. Instead she just continued to evade the sloppy swipes and punches, all whilst keeping a hold of her drink and sipping at it occasionally.

Finally boring of one particularly persistent individual, Weiss clicked Lilie der Rache’s barrel around and calmly froze his feet to the floor. Somehow during the fighting, Weiss ended up back to back with Neo, who looked like she was having the time of her life as she vaulted over Weiss to land a kick on someone approaching the pair. Without thinking, Weiss shot another blast of ice at one of the brawlers who was sneaking up behind Neo. The shorter woman blinked in surprise before returning the favour, launching an abandoned tankard at another man about to get Weiss in a headlock, knocking him to the ground. As they continued to fight, Weiss noticed out of the corner of her eye, Neo staring at her, jaw slightly slack, but she dismissed it as a Neo thing.

With both Weiss and Neo fighting, the patrons soon found themselves completely outclassed, a particular highlight being Weiss launching Neo with a column of stone to slam a heavy kick into the last thug. Soon the bar was silent, save for the grinding of stone as Weiss restored the ground to its original state.

“Thanks for the help, girls.” Cadmia panted, wiping blood away from the corner of her mouth and sporting a magnificent black eye. Neo just grinned happily as Weiss shook her head.

“It was nothing. We stick together right?” She told them as she gestured to Neo.

‘_Money.’_ Neo pouted up at Weiss briefly before acquiescing and handing Weiss the wallet, which she dropped on the bar in front of the bartender, who was just peeking out from beneath it.

“For the damages. Sorry about the mess.” She told him, before following the other three out the door. Once outside, Cadmia stretched out languidly.

“Right, time to hit the next bar, I think. You lot in?” Titania nodded, clearly resigned to be Cadmia’s minder for the evening.

“No thanks, I think I’ve hard enough excitement for this evening.” Weiss excused herself and Cadmia shrugged.

“Fair. What about you, Neo?” The diminutive woman tapped her chin in mock thought for a moment, then shook her head and, to Weiss’ surprise, latched onto her arm.

“Suit yourselves, see you tomorrow.” Cadmia and Titania waved goodbye and began trudging down the street towards their next destination, leaving Weiss with a multicoloured limpet attached to her.

“You going to let go anytime soon?” She asked the clearly more than a little drunk woman. Neo cocked her head in thought for a moment, then shook her head vigorously. Sighing, Weiss turned to head over to their accommodations, pulling the shorter woman along with her.

“At least you’re not a chatty drunk.” Weiss said with a wry smile, earning a sharp jab and a mock offended look from Neo, who whipped out her scroll and began typing furiously.

‘I can be chatty just you see’ She waved the scroll in Weiss’ face before continuing to type. ‘Youre a pretty dam good fighter schnee 😳😚😊’ Weiss raised an eyebrow in confusion, trying to decipher the icons, but was quite unable to.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” Was the response she finally settled on. She could’ve sworn she saw a look of disappointment flash across Neo’s face as she detached a little, though she still kept an arm loosely intertwined with Weiss’.

The pair fell silent, or rather Weiss did and Neo stopped typing, and soon they were at the hostel building. Quietly, the pair made their way upstairs and into their shared room. Weiss was mortified and turned away hastily as Neo shamelessly started stripping in the middle of the room, only turning around once she heard the rustle of sheets and faintly wheezes of laughter. Unwilling to do the same, Weiss commandeered the attached bathroom to change in. Once she emerged, she was only slightly freaked out by the mismatched eyes of her roommate peering out from under the covers.

“This isn’t some sort of long con, is it? One where you stab me to death in my sleep?” She asked and the pile of blankets quivered with silent laughter before a bare arm bearing Neo’s scroll emerged.

‘Pfft, off course not! 😁 What do u take me for some kind of criminal? 😇😇😇’ The scroll vanished back into the pile and a not exactly comforted Weiss crawled into her own bed. It had been a long day and Weiss had the nasty feeling her days would only get longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, it's official, I love Neo. She adds a certain... chaotic influence to the story as well as being interesting to write with the dichotomy between her usual self and her grief over Roman. Not to mention Weiss really needs a friend right now, what with everyone else being kinda off with her.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

Weiss awoke early next morning and was greeted with the blush-inducing sight of Neo stretched out on the floor, clad only in her underwear and her skin seeming to shift oddly.

“What are you doing? And why do you have to do it half-naked?” Weiss groaned, burying her face underneath the sheets in a vain attempt to preserve Neo’s modesty. She peeked out when something thumped her bed to see Neo holding out her scroll and looking incredibly smug as she performed a perfect split.

‘It’s yoga! 😀 You should try it sometime, it’s really relaxing. ☺’ The not-so-ex-heiress scowled at the smirking girl.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re not wearing clothes.” She snarked whilst Neo rose out of the split and flexed backwards into a bridge, all whilst typing out a fresh response.

‘I don’t have any gym clothes. Or any other clothes for that matter. 😅’ Weiss glanced over at the pile Neo had left her clothes in last night and noted they did seem a little worse for wear. She made the mistake of looking back at Neo, who had chosen that moment to move to a downward dog, facing away from Weiss. With a squeak, she burrowed her way back under the blankets to wheezing laughter from her impish roomie.

“The moment we get into the next town I am buying you some loungewear!” Weiss’ shriek was somewhat muffled by the blankets but drew even more wheezes from Neo. She stayed swaddled up like that for another ten minutes, trying desperately not to think about the vision in lace she’d just seen.

Eventually, the sheets were ripped away and Weiss peeked out to see a thankfully fully-dressed Neo, bowler perched jauntily on her head and a sober look on her face, though there was something of a smirk playing across her lips.

‘Better get ready quick if you want to attend your friend’s funeral’ She showed Weiss the message and stepped back to allow Weiss to crawl out of bed and collect her things before vanishing into the bathroom.

Once inside, she took a moment to collect herself. Somehow, Neo was even worse than Yang, and the blonde had had a pretty loose understanding of modesty whenever her sister wasn’t around. Weiss vaguely wondered if it was because she didn’t know just how much some people could be affected by sexual attraction. Neo though, she seemed to actively enjoy taunting Weiss whenever she got the opportunity, and now Weiss had foolishly revealed a weakness to her.

Sighing at her foolishness, Weiss went about washing up and getting ready for the day. Satisfied with her appearance, she emerged from the bathroom to see Neo fiddling with her scroll whilst perched on one of the beds.

“Are you coming as well?” She asked and Neo nodded, hopping up and passing Weiss Lilie and Penny Dreadful. Nodding her thanks, Weiss snapped the weapons on and covered them up with her cloak. It felt impolite to attend a funeral whilst armed, but Weiss didn’t know where else to put them if they were leaving soon after. Scooping up her parasol, Neo opened the room door and gestured for Weiss to lead the way downstairs. Hong was stood waiting in the lobby and they looked up as they heard the pair descending.

“You sure you want to go to this, Ivory?” They asked, looking less wary than yesterday, but there was still a glint of concern in their eyes.

“I may not have known her for very long, but Lazuli was my friend. I want to attend.” Weiss stated calmly, but pointedly avoided mentioning Pitch.

“Sure, of course. Just, if Huang says anything, just ignore him, okay?” Weiss and Neo frowned at this and the white-haired girl had a few ideas of what he’d say.

“I’ll be fine.” She reassured the lead guard who nodded in relief.

“Good, just head out, turn left and keep going, you can’t miss it. I’m just waiting for Kuro and we’ll join you.” With a wan smile, Weiss led Neo out of the building and away towards the temple. As they walked in the weak autumn dawn, Weiss felt a small tug on her cloak.

‘You want me to make sure Huang doesn’t say anything? 😈’ Weiss might have been touched and tempted by the offer, if not for the little icon at the end of the message.

“Somehow I think your methods might not be best suited for the current situation.” Weiss snarked at her diminutive companion. It would do her well to remember that despite how well they seemed to be getting on, Neo was still an unrepentant thief and a murderer. Neo didn’t seem too put out by the refusal though.

‘Well, if you change your mind, just say the word! 😃😃’ Weiss rolled her eyes at the shorter woman’s strange love for the little faces. The town’s temple was a fairly small affair, probably enough to hold a small congregation, and Weiss recalled it being mentioned in a lecture that organised worship had fallen out of favour in Vale since the Great War.

There was a nervous churning in the pit of her stomach as they approached. She always felt like this whenever she went near another faith’s place of worship. Like she was intruding on something or that her own faith may somehow taint the space. She breathed a sigh of relief, however, when she noticed some familiar faces gathered to the side of the building, arranged in a rough semicircle around two open plots.

Weiss and Neo squeezed in beside a very hungover looking Cadmia and one of the drivers. Across the empty space, Huang glared at her and he wasn’t alone. A few other of the caravan members threw her and Neo dark looks. Nobody spoke and they waited in silence until Kuro and Hong arrived, the latter leaving as soon as they confirmed everyone was there.

Another silent minute passed, then Weiss heard a warbling voice from behind them. Turning slightly, she looked back to see Peridot carrying a shrouded body, Hong following after carrying a body of their own. Accompanying them was middle-aged woman who was the source of what she now recognised to be a song, though she couldn’t understand it. As if sensing her confusion, Neo tapped her lightly on the arm and presented her scroll.

‘It’s old Valean, an elegy for the dead, wishing them peace on their journey to the beyond.’

“I’ve never been to a Valean funeral before.” The white-haired girl whispered as the trio approached.

‘I can explain later.’ As Neo tucked her scroll away again, Weiss felt this strange warmth in her chest and she couldn’t quite pinpoint its source. The group parted to allow Peridot and Hong through, though the woman stayed back, still singing. The pair moved to stand facing each other over the open graves and gently lowered their cargo into the shallow holes.

They all stood for few more moments as the song drew to a close. Then, as if by some unsaid command, the group began to disperse, allowing a few men with spades to approach and begin filling the graves.

Gently, Neo tugged Weiss away from the graves, and they followed the group as they slowly trudged away, a few drifting over to Peridot to offer condolences before drifting away again. Weiss wanted to go over, to say something, but nothing came to her. What could she even say? ‘Hi, sorry for your loss but hey, at least I killed the guy who did it, huh?’

Ruby would know what to say, so would Yang or even Blake. Not for the first time since she’d left Patch less than a week ago, Weiss was hit with just how alone she was out here. No Blake to provide counsel, no Yang to encourage and enthuse her. No Ruby to drive her and give her something greater to work towards. Once again she was all alone.

‘You okay? 😟 You looked really down for a bit there. 😟’

“It’s nothing.” Weiss tried to brush it off, but Neo was oddly persistent, continuing to tap on Weiss’ arm. “Look why do you care? We barely know each other.” The shorter girl crossed her arms angrily at Weiss’ annoyed hiss.

‘I’m not some evil villain you know. I do have empathy ya know.’ The pair’s glaring match was interrupted by a loud voice, not directed at them but spoken loud enough that they were meant to hear.

“Yeah, if that Faunus hadn’t been so shifty, I would’ve noticed Pitch acting off and been able to stop it.” Both their heads snapped round to see Huang gesturing to one of the drivers who was nodding along. “So really this is her fault.” Weiss tensed, she knew everyone else in the group had heard his insulting claims but no one was moving to stop him. She looked around for Hong, but they were with Peridot, who’d hunched over at the bold statement and was shivering uncontrollably.

“Shut it, Huang.” Cadmia growled, though she clutched at her head in pain immediately after. “You’re upsetting Peri.”

“And I’m sorry for her. But we all know this could have easily been avoided.” The bulky man continued, throwing Weiss an evil look, daring her to retaliate. Gods, she wanted to wipe that look off his face. But everyone was still watching, and how would she look if she attacked him? No doubt he would spin it that she was a violent sociopath who’d kill them all if they so much as looked at her funny.

So she stayed put, glaring at him defiantly. What she didn’t account for was the short woman beside her darting forwards.

“Neo!” She shrieked and grabbed for her hand, only for the form to shatter beneath her fingers. As the glassy shards crashed to the floor and dissipated, Huang let out a strangled cry as a parasol appeared, locked around his neck and choking him.

“Neo! Let him go!” Weiss screeched, running towards them along with a few of the other guards as Huang staggered around, flailing wildly to try to get the diminutive girl off his back. “He’s not worth it!”

Weiss was the first to reach the grappling pair and promptly latched onto Neo, pulling hard. “You’re not helping!”. With a final hard tug, Neo lost her grip on the end of her parasol and fell backwards onto Weiss, knocking them both to the ground. As they lay there breathless, Weiss uncomfortably aware of Neo’s body pressing down on her, Huang straightened up and choked out.

“See, even her little bandit friend’s a ruthless bitch.” He was about to continue but was interrupted again by Hong, who had walked over and punched him hard in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Do you have no respect?” They stated, and it chilled Weiss to the core to see someone who normally exuded warmth to speak so coldly. “Lazuli is dead, and your shifting of the blame onto someone else just because you don’t like them is not only not helping. It’s actively damaging.” Weiss felt a flush of guilt, remembering how she’d thought Huang was behind the ambush because he’d been a jerk to her.

“Bu-.”

“Enough. You’re riding with me so I can keep an eye on you. And the rest of you lot, I don’t want any more of the nonsense about Ivory. In case you forgot, she saved my hide on the first day.” There was a quiet murmuring of agreement from the group. “We’re not paid to debate morals or the like. We’re here to get the goods to Dolmen, and all this arguing is burnin’ daylight.” With that, he hauled Huang to his feet by the front of his shirt and hauled him off in the direction of the trucks.

There were still few dark looks thrown Weiss’ way, but for the most part Hong’s speech seemed to have mellowed them all out. Once again, Weiss’ attention was drawn to the fact she was lying on the ground, one of her wings twisted awkwardly, and with a woman she’d seen nearly naked less than an hour ago sat on top of her.

“Would you mind moving?” She snarked at the multicoloured girl, who shrugged.

‘_I like it here’ _She signed slowly at Weiss, drawing a groan of mild irritation from her.

“Well, I could be more comfortable. So please, let me up.” Huffing in mock annoyance, Neo rose to her feet and offered Weiss a hand up. “Thank you.” Brushing herself off, Weiss followed the group as they made their way back to the convoy.

‘Sorry, I didn’t like to hear him talk about you like that. 😟’ Yet again Weiss found herself puzzled by the behaviour of this girl she’d only met properly yesterday.

“It’s fine, not that I approve. I may _really _dislike the-,” Weiss made one of Neo’s rude gestures so as not to be overheard insulting the man so soon after a tenuous peace was established. “But attacking him went too far.” Neo shrugged at this, but Weiss chose not to pursue it. “Thank you anyway.”

The shorter girl grinned up at her. _‘You’re welcome!’ _She signed as she strolled along beside the not-so-ex-heiress. It felt good to have someone willing to fight for her, even if she had no idea why Neo was doing so. She may not have been the rest of Team RWBY, but Weiss still found the diminutive girl’s presence comforting and familiar.

The trucks were just finishing being refuelled as they approached the caravan and headed over to the truck Hong directed them to, Huang sulking by the head guard’s side. Boosting themselves up into the back of the truck, the pair settled in, ready for the next leg of the journey.

“Can you teach me some more ASL?” For a moment, the happy smile Weiss received reminded her so much of Ruby, and she smiled back as Neo started typing out words on her scroll to demonstrate to Weiss. She could get used to this, and maybe she wasn’t quite as alone as she’d thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that went quite well actually and Neo's there to fight for Weiss too which is nice. She really has no real sense of shame, they really need to get her some other clothes because I'm sure that's why she did it. Other than that, not sure what else to say about this one.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for being my lovely proofreader.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

“You’re kidding?” Weiss gaped at the mischievous young woman sat across from her.

‘Nope, Junior really does sleep with half a dozen teddy bears. 😂😂’ Neo typed out, the pair taking a break from Weiss’ sign lessons.

“And you really stole one and he destroyed Torchwick’s lair looking for it?” Neo nodded, heaving with silent giggles, and Weiss was having serious second thoughts about agreeing to travel with this miniature hellion. At least her antics didn’t sound quite as bad as Yang’s, the blonde’s most heinous prank being the time she and Nora somehow managed to glue Team CRDL together. Although the four did kind of deserve it, having been picking fights with various Faunus in the days before the experience.

In return for Neo’s tales of mischief in the criminal underbelly of Vale, Weiss had told her about some of her times at Beacon. For some reason, the petite woman had been particularly interested in hearing about Ruby. Weiss had been all too happy to oblige, talking about her absent partner helped fill the hole she’d left. All the while, Neo watched her with a strange look on her face as Weiss described their various exploits.

Something Weiss took note of whenever it was Neo’s turn to tell a story was that she never spoke of Torchwick directly. Sure, he featured indirectly, but there was never a story about him. She didn’t pry though, if Neo wanted to tell her she’d listen. It scared Weiss a little how quickly she’d gotten close to Neo. It had taken her nearly a month to warm up to Team RWBY, and only after she’d insulted them repeatedly. A slightly more rational part of her reminded her that she’d been far less stable and secure in herself back then, and she’d become relatively friendly with Sun during a similarly short period of time.

‘Right, it’s your turn now. 😄😄’ Neo jogged Weiss out of her thoughts, and she thought a little about what else she could tell the multi-coloured girl. She’d deliberately avoided telling Neo about some of the less happy occasions, not wanting to bring the mood down. Eventually she settled on:

“There was the reunion dinner we had. Yang and Ren cooked us all a meal and we ate it together like a family.” Neo cocked an eyebrow.

‘Cute, but not exactly riveting material. 😒’

“The interesting bit came after the meal. Nora accused Blake and Yang of dating without telling her, which the two vehemently denied because they thought the other wasn’t queer or into her.” Now it was Neo’s turn to gape.

‘No. Way. You’re serious? 😲 The two gayest people ever didn’t know the other was into them!? 😲’ Weiss nodded smugly.

“Yep, poor Ruby had to explain to them exactly how they were wrong.” Weiss chuckled awkwardly. “I can’t really blame them though, given I didn’t notice any of the stuff Ruby mentioned and they had to tell me in person they were queer.” Neo just rolled her eyes, but started giggling silently as she typed out a message.

‘Oh come on. 🙄 I saw the four of you for less than a minute and you all pinged my gaydar within seconds. I could’ve sworn you were called Team RNBW.’ The not-so-ex-heiress huffed in mild irritation.

“Yes, well, silly team name puns aside, how did you know? _I _didn’t know I was gay until later.” The shorter woman merely smirked at Weiss.

‘You wear suits, ice princess. Even if you were unaware, you've pretty much got dapper butch down.’ Weiss cocked an eyebrow in confusion and was about to ask what that meant but Neo was already typing. ‘Also your gaydar is so bad it doesn’t even work on yourself. 😂😂’

“It is not!” Weiss protested, not minding that she had no idea what a gaydar even was.

‘Oh really? 😏’ Weiss did not like the look Neo was giving her. ‘So you knew I’m a lesbian the moment you laid eyes on me then? 😏’

“Really?” Weiss’ eyes widened in shock as she looked Neo over once again. “But you dress so femininely.” The multi-coloured girl huffed in disdain.

‘I am not getting into a discussion about butch/femme dynamics right now. 😠’ Irritation rolling off of her in waves. ‘Suffice it to say, I wear my pastels and make up for women, not men.’ Weiss quailed a little under the intensity of Neo’s glare before the shorter woman slumped back down.

‘Sorry. 😥😥 I get kind of annoyed whenever people question my sexuality because of the way I dress.’ The white-haired woman just shook her head and waved off the apology.

“No, I’m sorry. I was rude and made assumptions about you.”

‘I shouldn’t have snapped though’ Neo sighed, before typing out a long message, so Weiss moved to sit beside her to read it better. ‘Not a lot of people in crime are particularly tolerant of queerness, they’re old-fashioned like that. Roman was the only one who really understood.’ Weiss gave her a sceptical look, remembering some of Roman’s comments towards the Faunus and fluttering her wings.

‘I see that look. Yeah, he wasn’t an angel, ‘specially when it came to Faunus stuff. But please understand that back then anti-Faunus racism never affected me. I was more concerned with these thugs calling me a dyke and saying they could turn me given half a chance.’ She shuddered in disgust, a move Weiss mirrored, remembering the people catcalling her in the courtyard. ‘But he understood what it was like to have people talk about you like that, even to your face. He was like a brot’ The shorter girl’s fingers froze, hovering over the keyboard before twitching up towards her head. But she restrained herself and clenched her fist in her lap.

Weiss opened her mouth to speak, to try to channel Ruby or Yang and say something comforting, but Neo’s hands moved into a recognisable sign.

‘_Don’t’_

So Weiss closed her mouth again and tried to ignore the tears that dripped into the shivering girl’s lap. It was strange to feel sad about the fate of Roman Torchwick, but looking at the silently crying girl beside her, she couldn’t help but feel a stab of sympathy for what Neo had lost. She had to wonder though, if it were Torchwick himself sat beside Weiss mourning the loss of Neo, would she have felt the same sympathy she did for the multi-coloured girl?

Her musings were interrupted by a knocking on the divider between the cabin and the back of the truck. Making her way over, Weiss slid aside the divider to see what the driver wanted.

“We’ve got trouble, flock of Nevermore up above.” Craning her neck, Weiss was just about able to catch a few glimpses of inky black feathers. Nodding her thanks to the driver, she retreated and started walking to the back of the truck.

“Come on, Neo, it’s time to work for a living.” The diminutive girl hastily swiped the last of the tears Weiss pretended not to see and followed Weiss to the exit, accepting a boost from the white-haired girl up onto the roof. Weiss followed close after and scanned the skyline, eventually spotting the flock heading towards them, keeping low over the woods surrounding the farmland they were passing through. Drawing Penny Dreadful, she lined up a shot despite them being far out of range of everyone else, one of the upsides of a laser weapon. The first shot just missed, a green beam lancing out and scattering the flock. Her second shot burned through one’s wing and sent it plummeting to the ground. Her third shot was interrupted by a light tapping on her arm and looking down she saw Neo’s scroll presented to her.

‘I don’t have any ranged weapons.’

“You what?” Weiss gave the former criminal an appalled look, which drew an annoyed huff and a fresh message.

‘I’ve never fought a Grimm before, okay? I beat up human schmucks, no need for a gun.’ Sighing deeply, Weiss passed her gun to Neo.

“You aim that end at what you want to shoot, then you pull the trigger.” She instructed, shaking her cloak out and allowing herself full motion with Lilie der Rache. As it turned out, Neo was almost as bad as Weiss had been when she’d started out with a ranged weapon, almost all of her shots going wide as she fired wildly at the flock.

As the Nevermore approached, Weiss was relieved that they weren’t Giant Nevermore and were only about the size of a person. Didn’t make them any less deadly as a flurry of flechettes were unleashed from the demonic birds at the caravan and the guards, who had by now all emerged onto the rooves of the rest of the convoy.

Throwing out her hand, Weiss felt the aura pulse down her arm and manifest several glyphs to shield the group, praying nobody looked too closely at them and noticed the SDC logo within each. They did the job though, as the feathers bounced off the shields, Weiss feeling the slight mental strain that came with holding up a glyph under fire.

The volley finished, Weiss dropped her glyphs to allow the guards to open fire, now that the flock was in range. A few of the Nevermore fell, crashing to the ground and beginning to evaporate. Weiss hoped the property damage wasn’t too great as one ploughed into a corn field. Spinning Lilie’s barrel, she hurled a barrage of ice lances at some of the nearest Nevermore and was satisfied at how they were impaled and killed. If only that Giant Nevermore they’d fought at initiation had been so easy to take down.

About half the flock had been killed as they finally made it to the convoy, swooping down to grasp at the people on top of the trucks. Instinctively, Weiss held out her hand and was rewarded with her sidearm, as Neo tossed it back and hopped up to swipe at a bird that came for them. Unfortunately, the blunt parasol did little against the Nevermore so Neo found herself crashing back down onto the truck having done little to the beast.

“Sorry, Neo, you need a blade to take on a Grimm.” Weiss grimaced, casting forth a tongue of flame to incinerate an incoming demon bird. After a moment, Neo got an evil grin on her face and gestured at Weiss.

“What do you need?” She asked, only half-paying attention as she fired off a quick laser blast. For explanation, Neo gripped Lilie’s barrel and spun it round to Wind Dust, miming herself getting launched into the air.

“Are you crazy?” She asked in bewilderment, and Neo just nodded and laughed wheezily, prepping for launch.

“This is an awful idea.” Weiss muttered darkly, pulsing her aura and forming a miniature tornado that whipped around Neo and sent her spinning into the air, to land on top of a Nevermore. Dear gods, she was as bad as Ruby. Weiss gaped in awe as Neo withdrew her blade from within the parasol and jammed it hard through the back of her mount’s skull, killing it instantly. As it began to dissolve and plummet, Neo neatly backflipped off and onto another one. She was able to repeat her macabre sky dance twice more before she ran out of birds and was forced to land back on the trucks, a few farther forward than Weiss.

So captivated was she by the diminutive woman sheathing her blade with a theatrical flick, she didn’t notice the Nevermore diving at her until it was nearly too late. The nightmarish screech brought her back to her senses, and she launched a gout of fire down its gullet before diving out of the way as the creature burned up from the inside and crashed to the ground.

Scrambling to her feet, she watched as what looked like the last of the Nevermore were shot down. She turned on the spot to look all around just to be sure when all the breath was knocked out of her by a tight hug around her midriff. For a brief insane moment, she thought her love had somehow sensed she was in danger and teleported to her. Instead, when she looked down, she was greeted by a head of pink, brown and white hair.

“Oooookay, Neo. You can let go now.” Weiss said awkwardly, trying to pry the shorter woman off of her. After a few fruitless tugs, she resigned herself to her fate and collapsed onto the roof, feeling the familiar exhaustion of Aura use wash over her as the adrenaline ebbed away. After a few minutes, the shorter girl released Weiss and started typing furiously, shoving the scroll into her face.

‘Don’t scare me like that! 😟😟’

“Don’t scare you?! You’re the one who got thrown into the air to play hopscotch on a flock of Nevermore!” Weiss shot back, though her face warmed in spite of herself.

‘I knew I’d be safe, you weren’t paying attention. What could possibly be so important that you’d take your eyes off the fight?’ Nope, Weiss was not telling Neo she’d been watching her. Not happening.

“It was nothing.” She tried to brush it off but she could feel her face blushing even more. Neo regarded her suspiciously, tapping out a fresh accusatory message that Weiss was saved from answering by a shout from the front of the caravan.

“You two alright back there?” Both looked up at Hong’s amused shout, the other guards beginning to climb back into the trucks.

“We’re fine!” Weiss called back, taking the opportunity whilst Neo was distracted to wriggle out from underneath her.

“Okay. We’ll be reaching Barrow in about an hour.” They shouted before swinging back into their truck. Pointedly not looking at Neo, Weiss clambered down and back into the truck and settling down on the bench. Neo followed a moment later and settled on the bench opposite her, and Weiss didn’t have to look at the diminutive girl to know she had a smug grin across her face, though the not-so-ex-heiress had no idea what she had to be smug about. As they rumbled on, increasing speed now the attack was over, Weiss wondered why her gaze had been drawn to Neo during the fight. It must be because of the burgeoning friendship they had. That must be it.

They passed the remainder of the journey in silence, Weiss gazing out the back of the truck whilst lost in thought and Neo fiddling with her scroll. Barrow was quite a large town, and as they rolled in, Neo noticed something that brought a massive grin to her face.

‘Ice cream! 😁 They have ice cream here! 😁’ The short girl was practically bouncing in her seat as they rolled up to the depot, and proceeded to help unload the trucks as quickly as possible. Weiss couldn’t help but shake her head in amusement at the multi-coloured girl getting so excited over something as simple as ice cream. It actually reminded her of Ruby a little. The younger girl would get in similar moods when cookies were on the line.

Soon enough the required crates were unloaded, and Neo had shot off before Hong could hand out the keys to their rooms. Things seemed to have mostly returned to normal amongst them. Jokes were told and everyone except Huang seemed to be more at ease.

“It’s fine, Ivory.” Hong told her, passing her two keys. “I’ve got you in the same room again. You can pass her that when you catch up with her.” There was a round of chuckles from some of the other guards that perplexed Weiss greatly. She was even more confused as when the rest of the keys were distributed, Hong held Weiss back gently by the shoulder as the rest dispersed to do whatever it was they did.

“Ivory, I understand you like your privacy sometimes, but why didn’t you say Neo was your girlfriend?” Weiss choked on nothing, making a few strangled noises as the bulky head guard carried on. “If you’d mentioned it at the start of course we’d have brought her along, and I could have set you up in better rooms together.”

Finally, Weiss managed to splutter out a sentence. “Neo’s not my girlfriend!” Hong just snorted and carried on, oblivious to Weiss’ appalled look.

“No need to be shy about it, I mean, what wouldn’t I give for a girl who looks at me like that?”

“Neo is not my girlfriend.” Weiss repeated, finally organising her thoughts into a coherent protest. “Do you see a ring on her finger?” She waved her left hand in front of Hong, who paused in their rhapsodising about their ideal partner.

“Oh.” They turned a bright red as they examined the ring on Weiss’ finger, and Weiss processed their words properly.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘a girl who looks at me like that’?” Hong was slowly backing up now, a sheepish grin plastered across their face.

“I, er, just remembered I’ve got stuff to do so I will see you later!” And they bolted before Weiss could ask anything else, calling over their shoulder. “Sorry about the room!”

Weiss just stood there, hand still outstretched and completely baffled by what had just happened. No, they were crazy. How on Remnant could Weiss and Neo have given the impression that they were dating? Weiss had a girlfriend, for the gods’ sake. And Neo was Neo.

Shaking her head in confusion, Weiss turned and trudged away down the road towards where Neo had run off to. Hopefully she could resolve this mess with Hong later without the need for any more ridiculousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong with whatever room arrangement Hong has set up for them. I'm pretty proud of the Team RNBW joke, especially since it works with the characters. Neo is absolutely adorable for a murderous thief, I just hope nothing bad happens that might 'cause her to turn on Weiss or something.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and listening to my dumb headcanons.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

Weiss trudged down the main street, headed for the general store that Neo had seen earlier and the familiar logo of the Schnee Creamery. She didn’t know why Jacques Schnee had purchased a creamery, but then again, they did make toothpaste and other non-Dust products so it wasn’t much of a stretch.

Tucking away her wings just in case, Weiss pushed open the door and set a chime tinkling away. A bored-looking shopkeep looked up, then returned to whatever he was doodling as Weiss wandered the small store, looking for Neo. She eventually found the multi-coloured girl practically drooling over a large freezer, gazing in at the frozen treats. Weiss wandered over as Neo typed something out and showed it to her without looking away.

‘They have the Pumpkin Pete’s tie-in ice cream. 😁😁’ She wasn’t sure how a single line of text could hold such awestruck glee, but Weiss smiled all the same.

“And I suppose you think it’s superior to all the others?” She asked, looking into the freezer at the various colourful tubs and packets.

‘Depends what you’re looking for. If you want something tooth-rottingly sweet then Pumpkin Pete’s marshmallow ice cream is the way to go.’ Neo typed one handed as she opened up the freezer and reached in, needing to stand on tip toe to reach. ‘But if you want something with a bit more depth of flavour, you want this.’ She emerged triumphant with a tub that read ‘Mama Sapphire’s cookie dough deluxe’.

“And what about Schnee Creamery?” Weiss asked, as Neo shut the freezer and gave her a withering look.

‘Weiss, I like you and all. But your dad’s ice cream is the worst. 🤢🤢’ Weiss scowled a little and was about to snap, but managed to restrain her irritation.

“That man is not my father.” She said simply, turning to go, but was caught by the sleeve.

‘_Sorry, I won’t talk about it again.’_ The shorter girl signed, looking slightly distraught at having upset Weiss.

“You didn’t know, it’s fine.” Weiss told her, turning back to face her when her eyes alighted on something just behind the multicoloured woman. “However, there is a way you can make it up to me.” Neo cocked her head in confusion, and Weiss switched who was holding who and pulled her over to the shelves of clothing she’d seen.

None of it was particularly fashionable and Weiss was mildly disappointed that given, the general store had a clothing section, there was unlikely to be a dedicated clothes store. Then again, clothes had been rather disappointing for Weiss recently. Her current clothes were off the rack from Patch, and after only wearing tailored outfits, it felt like a major step down. As Weiss began rooting through the clothes, Neo stepped up beside her, still looking bemused.

‘_What are you doing?’ _She signed as Weiss examined a large shirt with a heart design.

“I am looking for a change of clothes you can wear to bed so we don’t have a repeat of last night.” Weiss said distractedly, trying to find something that would fit the diminutive girl, whilst trying not to blush as images of Neo from last night and that morning flashed through her mind.

It wasn’t as though she was attracted to the multi-coloured girl or anything. They were just friends. And friends don’t let friends wander around half-naked.

‘Well, I won’t say no to free stuff. 😜’ Weiss rolled her eyes at the shorter woman and shoved a pile of clothes into her arms.

“You can help me look then.” She snarked, continuing to look through the disorganised piles. As it turned out, there weren’t many clothes in ‘XXS’. Weiss briefly wondered aloud if Neo shopped in the children’s department, earning her a sharp jab in the side. Personally, she’d thought the diminutive girl would’ve looked absolutely adorable in the shirt emblazoned with Pumpkin Pete. But Neo had put her foot down when she found out it was intended for girls aged 11-14.

Eventually they settled on an over-sized pink shirt that hung down to Neo’s knees. Weiss would have preferred it if she had picked out some bottoms too, but she had already been disappointed by the lack of nightgowns.

They continued to look around the store for other things and were able to find Neo a bag to put her new purchases in as well as some soft drinks for later. As Weiss browsed at a leisurely pace her multi-coloured companion kept chivvying her along, worried about the slowly defrosting ice cream. After a few more minutes, Weiss finally capitulated to the incessant prodding of her companion and took the items over to the shopkeep, who tallied up the cost on an ancient till.

Counting out her lien, Weiss was a little concerned that she was running low on hard cash. With the CCT down, pulling funds out of the Vale National bank wasn’t easy. But hopefully she could restock once they got to Dolmen. Besides, it was a small price to pay for her friend’s modesty and happiness as Neo snatched up the ice cream with glee and vanished out the building whilst Weiss followed at a more sedate pace.

When had she started thinking of Neo as a friend anyway? They’d gotten closer than Weiss could possibly have imagined. If she’d known a few months ago she’d end up friends with Roman Torchwick’s sidekick, she’d have thought herself crazy. Yet here she was, watching a woman almost a year older than her trying to eat ice cream directly out of the tub because she didn’t have a spoon.

“You’re worse than Ruby, I swear.” Weiss grumbled, pulling out a handkerchief and a small cutlery set and handing the spoon over. Was there something about her that caused these weirdly childish yet incredibly competent and pretty women to gravitate to her? Wait, no. She did _not_ think Neo was pretty.

‘_Thank you!’ _The multicoloured girl signed, oblivious to Weiss’ internal panic, before digging back into her ice cream with a little more efficiency and a lot less mess.

“I really don’t get what you and Ruby like about that stuff anyway.” Weiss commented, having calmed down from her momentary lapse in judgement. Neo paused for a moment in her gorging, then typed out a message.

‘Well maybe because at first it’s cold but then it’s super sweet. Kinda like you! 😘😘’ It took the Faunus a moment to process this before her face turned scarlet. This could not be happening right now. She was about to flail out a retort when Neo flashed her a new message.

‘Just messing with ya! 😂😂😂’ Weiss sighed in relief, completely missing the stricken look that crossed the multi-coloured girl’s face. It was just Neo being Neo. There had never been any doubt in Weiss’ mind that Neo had just been messing with her. It was ridiculous to think that Neo had actually been flirting with her.

So wrapped up in herself, she didn’t notice Neo morosely return to her ice cream, shovelling large spoonfuls into her mouth. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Neo gorging herself on her sweet treat and Weiss silently reassuring herself that it was only friendship between herself and Neo.

Eventually, there was a tap on Weiss’ shoulder and Neo handed her back her spoon, licked clean, and the not-so-ex-heiress made a mental reminder to wash it properly later. Tossing the empty tub into a nearby bin, Neo turned her scroll to Weiss.

‘So, what shall we do now? Hit another bar? 🤔’

“I’d rather not, I’ve been to bars the last two nights in a row, a third seems excessive.” She excused herself, avoiding mentioning that just being in them made her uneasy.

‘Then I know what we can do. You can teach me to shoot and stuff. 😄’ Neo grinned in excitement as Weiss raised an eyebrow.

“You sure? I’m not the best teacher.” She recalled a particularly memorable time when she’d tried to teach Yang chess because Blake played and the blonde had wanted to bond with her. They’d been finding fragments of the pieces throughout their dorm up until the Fall.

‘I’m sure you’re a great teacher. Besides I kinda need help since I’m not good at Grimm fighting.’ The white-haired Faunus shrugged and conceded the point, stretching out and stepping away from the wall she’d leant up against whilst Neo had been eating.

“Okay then, let’s head out of town a little so we don’t disturb the residents.” Weiss led the way down the main street towards the archway they entered Barrow by and once they were out of the town walls, found a fallen tree on the edge of the forest to set up at. Weiss pulled a couple of cans of Dr Piper out of her bag, passing one to Neo and draining her own.

With the cans emptied, Weiss took them and balanced them on the log, just like Qrow had done for her, except he used empty beer bottles.

“Okay, first things first, some safety rules. Number one, always treat the gun as if it’s loaded. Two-.” She paused in her recitation as Neo laughed silently.

‘I know all that crap ice queen. 🙄 And it’s not like it really matters that much unless you’re a civilian.’

“Look, do you want me to teach you to shoot or not?” Weiss huffed in irritation and Neo sobered up fairly quick.

‘Can we just skip the boring safety stuff? 😇 I promise I won’t shoot a random person by accident. 😇’ Scowling slightly, Weiss unclipped Penny dreadful from her belt and handed it over to Neo.

“Right, you’re starting out so hold it in both hands, feet about shoulder width apart. Now turn your torso to the side so as to present as small a target as possible.” As she spoke, she positioned Neo accordingly, twisting her body into the firing position Qrow had taught her.

“Just line up your target and when you’re ready, pull the-.” Weiss jumped as a lance of green light shot out before she finished and sliced straight through the log. Neo grinned sheepishly at the Faunus, lowering the gun, finger slipping outside the trigger guard.

“Okaaaay, maybe next time we try aiming a little higher.”

Neo’s next shot was higher, about two metres too high in fact and Weiss was forced to extinguish a small fire with Ice Dust.

“Right, let’s try something different.” Weiss moved in behind Neo, gently grasping the shorter woman’s forearms and lifting them up so Penny Dreadful was pointed at the targets. “You might want to calm down a little, you’re breathing awfully fast.” Weiss commented idly, too busy trying to aim over Neo’s shoulder to pay much attention to how the multi-coloured girl was stepping back further into her space.

“Now fire.” The laser arced out smoothly and annihilated the can, leaving a smouldering pile of melted metal.

“See, you can do it. Let’s try the next.” Weiss manoeuvred Neo around to face the other can. “You aim this time.” She let go of Neo and stepped back. She could’ve sworn she heard a quiet huff before the shorter girl fired another laser, destroying the second can.

‘Not bad am I? 😏’ Neo smirked cockily, looking back at Weiss, gun pointed at the ground.

“No you aren’t. Shame we haven’t really got more targets for you to practice on, but I am not drinking any more cans of Dr. Piper and neither are you.” The multi-coloured woman pouted, but handed the weapon back to Weiss, who snapped it back to her belt, safety already on.

‘_Thank you’_

‘_It’s no problem’ _Weiss signed back, earning a happy smile from Neo.

‘You’re picking it up well. 😁 Maybe I should teach you some of the more complicated stuff.’

“Not today, thanks.” Weiss flipped her scroll open to check the time. It was still early but travelling really took it out of her, not to mention the fight. She sat down heavily on the log, carefully avoiding the miniature slagheaps. “Maybe we could just sit and relax a while, talk some more.” Neo shrugged and perched herself beside Weiss.

‘_Sure’ _They sat in silence for a while, listening to the sound of the forest rustling around them.

“You mentioned earlier you’d explain the ceremony this morning.” Weiss finally broke the silence, looking to her mute companion.

‘There’s not really much to tell about it. Valean tradition dictates that bodies should be simply wrapped and buried so they can be returned to the earth.’ Neo tapped out. ‘Even if not many people are particularly faithful, it’s just tradition at this point.’

“And the song?”

‘Like I said, a wish of good luck for the deceased as they cross the river. I’m not really one for religion so I don’t know much about the theology.’

“You seem to know quite a bit though for someone who claims to be from Atlas.” Weiss pointed out and Neo shrugged.

‘I told you, I’m a history nerd. 🤓 The Vale museum had an exhibit on the burial chambers from before the more recent tradition of natural burials.’ Weiss barked out a soft laugh.

“Again, I did not expect a hardened criminal to have a hobby like visiting museums.” She commented, smirking wryly at the aforementioned hardened criminal who gasped in mock shock.

‘I’ll have you know history was my favourite lesson, my history tutor was th’ Neo paused in her fervent typing as her head caught up with her fingers. Weiss, meanwhile, stared at the shorter woman. She’d had tutors. Not only was she Atlesian, she’d been a rich Atlesian.

‘_Never mind.’ _Neo signed, followed by a few more that Weiss didn’t understand. She’d noticed Neo did this whenever she got excited or agitated. But that wasn’t important right now.

“You had tutors?” She pressed and received another flurry of signs of which Weiss could only understand a few. “Neo, I’m sorry but I can’t understand.”

‘Please, can you just leave it?’ Weiss sighed, strangely saddened by the shorter girl locking her out like this.

“Sure. I’m sorry, I won’t pry.” She agreed as Neo typed out a response.

‘I like you, Weiss and you are my friend. But my past is personal and we’re not at that level yet.’ The message was accompanied by a wan smile and the pair returned to sitting in silence. It reminded Weiss of some of the times she’d spent with Blake, no real pressure to talk or do anything other than enjoy being in each other’s company.

Weiss wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, sat out on a log on the edge of the forest. Long enough that dusk was settling and for Weiss to notice Neo had started to shiver.

“Maybe we should head back.” She suggested and the shorter girl agreed, teeth chattering as she hopped off the log. Her shivering didn’t abate as they began to walk towards the town, so Weiss took it into her own hands, or rather, wings.

“Come here.” She murmured, stretching a wing out from underneath her cloak and wrapping it around Neo, pulling her in and wrapping her in feathers. “You’re freezing.” As they walked, Neo’s shivering starting to stop under Weiss’ warm wing. The Faunus took the opportunity to give the wing a once over. It was a bit of a mess and she was sure the other was too.

She hadn’t been taking care of them herself recently. Ruby had taken it upon herself to make sure the feathers lay straight and flat and without her gentle ministrations, Weiss hadn’t bothered doing it herself.

‘What’s the matter?’ Neo’s scroll emerged from the feathery cocoon.

“My wings are in a bit of a state. I haven’t been taking care of them.” Weiss said, still looking them over and taking note of where the feathers were worst.

‘I could help’ Came the offer, but Weiss shook her head.

“No thank you, it’s…” Weiss cast around for an accurate descriptor of how intimate of an activity it was. “It’s not something that friends do.” It was a rather lame description, but Neo seemed to buy it.

As they walked down the main street, they head raucous music from one of the building along the road with a sign proclaiming it to be ‘Bar None’. Weiss could hear Cadmia’s distinctive bellowing laugh in amongst the rest of the merriment. She nudged Neo and pointed the bar out.

“You can go if you want, I’m just going to got to our room.” She informed the multi-coloured girl, who considered for a moment, then curled back into the warmth of Weiss’ wing.

‘Drinking’s no fun if you’re not there. 🙁’ Weiss couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“If you say so.” They carried on and, as they approached the bunkhouse, they saw a familiar figured sat just outside, smoking a cigarette.

“Hey Ivory, Neo.” Peridot called out to the pair as they entered the circle of light spilling out from the bunkhouse’s doorway. Something in her voice set Weiss on edge, it was flat and unenthused and Weiss had never heard someone sound quite like that before.

“Hey Peridot.” Weiss replied, and Neo waved from within Weiss’ wing’s embrace. “You feeling okay?”

“Nope!” Peridot blew out a cloud of smoke with the fake cheer. “I buried my partner this morning and I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again.” Neo wormed her way out from Weiss and trotted over to Peridot, fingers flying across her scroll. Peridot however waved her off. “I’ll be fine. I just want to be alone right now.”

“Sure. If you need us, we’ll be just upstairs.” Weiss told her, and Neo nodded vigorously before following Weiss inside as Peridot gave them a thumbs up and returned to smoking.

“Maybe we should…” Weiss started, concern filling her voice, but Neo held up a hand and wrote out.

‘If she wants to be left alone, we leave her alone.’ Part of Weiss wanted to disagree, that if she was in Peridot’s position, she’d want people with her. But she acquiesced and continued to lead the way upstairs and to their room. As she entered, Weiss understood why Hong had apologised for the room.

There was only one bed.

For her part, Neo was not very helpful either, affecting a gasp and typing out a message.

‘Oh no! There’s only one bed! 😲😄😂’ Her gleeful grin was met with a baleful glare from Weiss.

“Why are you like this?” She groaned, walking into the room and flopping face first onto the bed. “I am _so_ glad we got you something to wear in bed.” She rolled over to watch Neo prance in after her, setting her parasol and hat aside, still grinning maniacally.

‘Don’t be such a spoilsport. Haven’t you ever shared a bed with a girl?’

“Yes, _my girlfriend_.”

‘Then what’s the problem? 😇’ Weiss opened her mouth, then closed it again. No, there wasn’t a problem. It was just like her and Ruby sharing that bedroll in the cave.

“Fine, it’s fine. I’m going to get changed.” Weiss sighed, thoroughly exhausted by the day and Neo’s perkiness. She pulled her nightgown from her bag and sloped off into the bathroom. Once inside and with the door locked behind her Weiss proceeded to stare at herself in the mirror.

This was fine. There was nothing wrong, just two normal lesbians, platonically sharing a bed, because Weiss _did not_ have anything beyond friendly feelings for Neo and she didn’t either. Neo was just being like Yang, enjoying needling people and using their lack of shame as a tool in that. Ironic really, given how much Yang disliked the multi-coloured girl.

Dear gods, what was she going to tell Yang? ‘Hey, Yang. You remember that girl who beat you up on the train? I may have made friends with her.’ Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Groaning, she ran some cold water and proceeded to douse her face in it. It would all be fine, they’d reach Dolmen tomorrow, then Neo would make her way to Haven whilst she carried on to Menagerie.

Taking small comfort in the thought that soon this non-problem would cease to be soon, Weiss changed into her nightgown and emerged from the bathroom to find Neo already changed. Perhaps the shirt was a little bit too big even for a deliberately oversized choice. Neo was practically swamped in the shirt, the collar almost slipping off her left shoulder and the hem almost reaching her knees.

‘I think we may have underestimated quite how small I am. 😅😅’

“Well, at least you’re decent.” Weiss sighed in resignation, crawling into the bed and settling herself as far as she dared from the centre as possible. Smirking, Neo climbed in after and settled down, sticking to her side but not bothering to distance herself from Weiss.

‘_Good night’ _She signed, and turned out the light, leaving them in darkness. Sighing again, Weiss tried to get comfortable and her last thoughts before drifting off were of her bedmate and just who she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Gasps* There was only one bed! For real though, Neo is absolutely adorable whilst being an absolute terror at the same time. Such a shame they're almost at Dolmen where they will part ways. Oh and I have seen the first episode of vol.7, it was really good and I am already working on incorporating it into The Wandering One.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and listening to my ramblings.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	10. Chapter 10

Weiss didn’t want to get up. It was warm and cosy under the blankets. A soothing warmth held against her chest, and its rhythmic breathing kept wakefulness at bay as she snuggled deeper into the embrace. She smiled, inhaling in the scent of vanilla and strawberries, and lazily reached up a hand to card her fingers through Ruby’s coarse hair, only to find silky smooth strands that were far longer and fuller than Ruby’s unruly mop. Blinking her eyes open in confusion, instead of being met with a face full of brunette tipped with red hair, she was instead greeted by a sea of pink and brown with a few streaks of white.

Oh.

Oh no.

Raising her head up a little, Weiss’ fears were confirmed. She was spooning Neo, the smaller girl snuggled up to her as close as she could manage with a contented smile plastered across her face. Gingerly, Weiss tried to unwrap herself from around the multi-coloured girl, only to find her right arm was pinned to the bed by Neo’s weight. A couple of tugs left her no less free, and in fact made things worse as Neo grunted and shifted in her sleep, proceeding to grapple onto the trapped arm and refusing to let go.

Resigned to her fate, Weiss rolled over so as to make as little contact as possible with Neo, and stared up at the wooden ceiling. She supposed there were worse positions she could be in, although none she could think of were quite as embarrassing as waking up to find yourself spooning a friend you made only two days ago.

There must be a perfectly logical reason for it, Weiss pondered this as her arm steadily grew numb. Finally, she hit upon the answer. She must just be missing Ruby. It had been less than a week since she’d left Patch, and the sting of not being by Ruby’s side kept growing. That must be it, simple longing and unconsciously clinging to the nearest warm body. It would’ve happened no matter who she ended up sharing a bed with.

Weiss looked back over at the still sleeping girl. Again she wondered just who Neo was. She and Weiss had almost identical skin tones, lending credence to her statement that she was Atlesian. Not that Neo had given her any indication she was lying about anything, but it would be foolish to take the word of a criminal at face value. And that mention of a tutor, only Atlas elite hired tutors to teach their children. Weiss thought she knew all the various children of Atlas’ upper echelons, yet she could not for the life of her remember anyone named Neopolitan. Then again, that name was probably as fake as Ivory or Ebony were.

Examining the shorter girl’s face closer, trying to discern any familiar facial features, her attention was caught by something on Neo’s throat. Refocusing her attention, Weiss wriggled down to get a better look, and her breath caught in her throat. Neo’s neck and upper chest were covered in a myriad of scars, faded, pale and old, with the worst of the damage located around the girl’s throat.

“What happened to you?” Weiss asked softly of no one, not quite paying attention to how her free hand was moving up to run her fingers over the marks. Just as they were about to make contact, they were snatching up in a tight grip. Weiss jerked and looked up to see a pair of pale white eyes staring back, filled with a mixture of panic and fear.

Suddenly, the grip on Weiss’ fingers and trapped arm vanished and Neo threw herself halfway across the room as if burned. Weiss quickly pulled herself upright to look at the shorter woman, who was trembling now, the marks on her neck somehow no longer visible and her eye colour restored to its usual brown and pink.

“Neo…”

‘_Don’t’_ Neo gestured sharply down, but Weiss ignored it.

“Neo, what happened to you?” There was no answer, then Neo strode over to the bedside table and snatched up her scroll.

‘I told you last night. Don’t pry.’ But Weiss refused to let it go.

“Neo, those scars-.”

‘Don’t. Pry.’ Neo tossed the scroll onto the bed and stalked into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. Defeated, Weiss let herself fall backwards onto the bed to stare once more up at the ceiling. She knew she shouldn’t have pushed, but the desire to know more about her friend’s mysterious past got the better of her. Just like it had with Ruby.

Groaning, she rolled over and her eyes fell upon Neo’s still unlocked scroll, her angry message still displayed. It was a terrible idea, Neo had literally just told her not to pry. But it was right there, and her curiosity burned despite the voice in her head reminding her of how badly it had gone when she’d interrogated Ruby.

Her hand hovered over the scroll and finally, she hit the power button, locking it. Her eyebrow raised a little at the picture Neo had set as her lockscreen, her flashing a ‘V’ at the camera and holding an ice cream cone, with Torchwick in the background getting arrested. Snapping the screen closed as well, Weiss wondered whether Neo was being deliberately inconsistent with how she acted. She had a picture of Torchwick getting arrested, and the few times he appeared in the background of one of her stories, she was almost gleeful that he was undergoing some form of misfortune. Yet she cared about him enough to ally with Weiss in getting justice.

Weiss just did not understand the girl at all. Still, she was satisfied she’d done the right thing. Now she just needed to apologise to Neo. As she tried to formulate a suitably apologetic statement, think of the hellion and she shall appear. The bathroom door clicked open and a freshly showered but still scowling Neo emerged. Her hair was still damp and hung limp, unlike its usual voluminous waves, and her neck was as unblemished as it had been when she entered the room.

“Neo, I’m sorry.” Weiss told her friend, but Neo didn’t answer. Instead she went over to the bedside table and draped her collection of necklaces around her neck, still not acknowledging Weiss. After she had artfully draped the jewellery, she turned to face the Faunus and picked up her scroll. She regarded it curiously for a moment, then opened it up.

‘Apology not accepted. I told you last night, I have things I want to keep private and you didn’t listen just now when I told you to leave it alone.’ With that, Neo collected up her hat and parasol and marched out of the room, leaving Weiss feeling even worse.

She lay there for another few minutes, contemplating both how she could make things up to Neo and why she felt quite so bad about upsetting her. Eventually, she crawled off the bed to take a shower and prepared for the last day with the caravan. It was probably out of spite that Neo had used up all of the complimentary toiletries, leaving Weiss rather dissatisfied with her shower experience and her hair less lustrous than usual.

Of all the things to miss about Beacon, her shampoo and conditioner felt like the pettiest. Even after her attempted disinheriting, she’d expected she would still be able to maintain a relatively good standard of living. Indeed, staying at Taiyang’s house had been more than acceptable, the primary change being in her wardrobe’s quality, and that was because she no longer had proper access to her funds or Coco.

As she towelled herself off, Weiss vaguely wondered what Team CFVY were up to now. Perhaps they’d enrolled at another combat school. Maybe she’d run into them at Haven if they’d transferred there. That would be a pleasant surprise. Making a mental note to check when she eventually arrived there, Weiss got dressed and ensured they had left nothing behind. Satisfied with the state of the room, she left and made her way downstairs, where she heard the sounds of the rest of the caravan in the dining room.

She seemed to be last to enter, and she saw Neo seated between Cadmia and Titania, laughing wheezily and showing them something on her scroll. Not wanting to intrude, Weiss settled herself beside Hong, who passed her the platter of toast, from which she gratefully took a few slices.

“Good sleep, Ivory?” They asked tentatively, clearly still anxious about how they’d accidentally mistaken Weiss and Neo for a couple.

“It was fine.” She replied neutrally, handing the platter along the line and taking a chunk out of one of her slices.

“Right, I couldn’t help but notice you and Neo came down separately.” Hong continued, still a little nervous, and they shrank back a little as Weiss placed her toast down on her plate.

“I’d rather not discuss it at the breakfast table, thank you.” Weiss intoned, shooting a glance over at Neo and Cadmia, who hastily turned back to their meal as though they hadn’t just been listening in. Sighing quietly, Weiss picked up her toast again and crunched into it as she casually rotated the box of Pumpkin Pete’s to face away from her, a move that did not go unnoticed by Neo nor the others.

She ate her breakfast in silence, trying to ignore the laughter from Neo and Cadmia. It didn’t bother her, not one bit, that Neo could get along with people so easily whilst Weiss struggled. Sure, she’d ingratiated herself pretty well with the rest of the caravan, but that had taken effort. Neo made it look easy. Weiss had come to terms with that fact she was… less socially adept than her peers, and she was getting better, but it still stung a little that Neo would never be alone like she was. Once again, Weiss was struck by the fact that she and Neo would be parting as soon as they reached Dolmen, and she felt a tickle of sadness at the back of her mind.

Weiss would be alone again.

* * *

“You want to talk about it now?” Hong asked. Breakfast had passed uneventfully and now the convoy was on the last leg of its journey. As they were loading up ready to leave, Neo had very pointedly clambered onto the truck with Cadmia and Titania, leaving Weiss to rejoin Hong up at the front.

Weiss thought for a moment, wondering exactly how much she should say and how much of the truth she could tell them. Eventually she opted for something as close to the truth as she dared.

“Neo and I aren’t friends. Well, we are now, I think? But when we met back at the ambush we weren’t.” She glanced over at Hong who was regarding her with simple curiosity. “It would be more accurate to call us enemies actually, back when I was at Beacon. I mean, I personally was never involved, but my girlfriend and her sister fought with her.”

“Yet you asked me to bring her with us?” Hong raised an eyebrow in confusion, and Weiss squirmed a little, having admitted to lying to the guard.

“She… knows some things about me that I didn’t want made public. She basically blackmailed me.” Weiss sighed, hanging her head.

“And you say you’re friends now.” Hong sounded even more confused now.

“It’s hard to explain. We actually get along quite well without the… rivalry we had back at Beacon.” Weiss tried, earning a soft snort from Hong.

“Not to mention the girl’s more than a little taken with you.” They muttered and Weiss looked at them sharply.

“You said something like that yesterday, what do you mean?” Hong waved it off, however.

“It’s neither important nor mine to tell. So what happened this morning?” The white-haired girl sighed looking away in guilt.

“I tried to ask Neo about her past, which she told me was private.” Hong’s breath hissed over their teeth.

“Yeah… That’s pretty bad, Ivory.” Hong said, shaking their head. “She told you not to ask and you did anyway. I’m not surprised she’s mad.”

“But I know so little about her. I’ve told her about so much of my past. Is it so much to expect a little reciprocity?” Weiss tried to defend herself weakly.

“Just because you’re comfortable sharing parts of yourself with her doesn’t mean she owes you anything.” Hong shot back before sighing too. “Look, I’ve known people like you. You see relationships as transactions, business deals.” Weiss gave him a look, unsure of where he was going. “I imagine every show of affection you’ve received was carefully calculated, always done because they wanted something from you.”

Weiss flinched a little, memories of Atlas welling up before she tamped them down. “So that’s it? I don’t get how relationships work? I thought they were supposed to be about give and take.”

“You’re not wrong, but when you give for the express purpose of receiving something back? That’s not healthy, Ivory.” Hong told her, eyeing her with concern. “Sometimes people can’t give back as much as you give them. Sure, it would be nice if they could. But that’s not how things always work out.”

“So what do I do to fix this?”

“Let Neo calm down a little, then apologise, properly. Maybe reassure her that she doesn’t need to tell you anything about herself if she wants to keep it private.” Hong suggested, shrugging. “I find apologies are best when they’re free-form and something you come up with, rather than something someone else suggests.” Weiss nodded slowly. Even if she and Neo were going their separate ways, it wouldn’t be good to leave things on a sour note.

“You know, I’m going to miss you and your advice.” She told Hong, who smiled a bit.

“And I’ll miss having someone who actually listens to it, rather than this lot.” They jerked a thumb back at the rest of the caravan, drawing a quiet chuckle from Weiss. She really would miss these people, except Huang, but that pretty much went without saying.

Stretching out and relaxing, Weiss gazed out the back of the truck, over the rolling hills, as she tried to formulate her apology to Neo before they parted ways in a couple of hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Weiss had to mess up sooner or later. She really should apologise to Neo, bad luck to end a relationship on such a sour note. And why yes, Neo does have a tragic backstory here so that's... not so great for her and Weiss has yet to reach the level of friendship required to unlock that (it's level 4).
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and enduring my awful comma usage.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

Dolmen was the largest settlement in the kingdom outside of Vale, nestled in a natural harbour much like Vale was. It’s architecture and layout were far more similar to the capital than the villages and towns they’d passed through on the way. It felt strange to be driving on properly maintained roads rather than dirt tracks for the first time in several days, as the convoy rumbled through the city gates and towards the warehouses near the docks.

“ The Vale council has taken over some of the warehouses. The farmland around Dolmen has been hit pretty badly by Grimm over the last months.” Hong explained as they drove along the streets. “Dolmen can normally support itself, but with the crisis…” They didn’t need to continue, Weiss had seen in Vale the damage there. Even though Dolmen hadn’t been directly affected, these things had a much bigger impact than first impressions gave.

The trucks eventually rolled to a halt, parking inside one of the warehouses, and everyone disembarked, leaving them to be unloaded by the workers milling around. Weiss looked around the group, trying to find Neo so they could say their goodbyes before they too parted ways. Starting to walk towards the edge to get a better look, she was intercepted.

“ Hey, Ivory! You’re not leaving without saying goodbye to us.” Cadmia caught her by the arm and steered her over to Titania and Periwinkle.

“ I promise I wasn’t, I was just looking for Neo.” Weiss protested weakly.

“ You can find your girl later.” Cadmia scoffed, slapping Weiss on the back, hard. “But you’re leaving us here right?” Weiss nodded. “Well, it’s goodbye. You’re pretty cool, Ivory.” Titania nodded in agreement before getting grabbed by Cadmia. “Anyway, sorry to dash, but it’s happy hour and I have several steins with my name on them. Bye!” The arctic fox Faunus gave Weiss a resigned look and waved goodbye as she was hauled away, leaving Weiss alone with Periwinkle. They stood in an awkward silence for a minute before Periwinkle practically lunged forward to wrap Weiss in a tight hug.

“ I never thanked you for what you did for Lazuli.” He mumbled into Weiss’ shoulder.

“ I didn’t do anything.” Weiss said, slightly stunned by the physical contact.

“ You got her some justice. That’s more than I did for her.” He pulled back to look at Weiss properly. “I am glad I met you, Ivory.”

“ I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.” Weiss mumbled, looking away guiltily, only for Periwinkle to place a firm hand on her shoulder.

“ I don’t blame you. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and Pitch got what he deserved.” He released Weiss and smiled faintly. “I’m gonna go hang with Kuro. Maybe we’ll meet again sometime. See ya.” With a small wave he strode over to the dark-haired man waiting for him, accepting a hair tousling with a modicum of grace.

The crowd had thinned somewhat by now and Weiss could see Hong stood off to the side, so she sidled up to stand beside them.

“ I guess this is it.” Weiss said quietly, looking over the motley crew.

“ Yep, we’ll be sticking around for a few days before heading back to Vale to prep for the next run.” They replied, checking off some stuff on a scroll. “Maybe see if we can recruit some fresh blood, though I don’t think any could quite measure up to you and Neo.”

“ I wouldn’t say that, we aren’t that good.” Weiss protested, blushing furiously and nudging Hong in the arm.

“ Well, if you’re ever in need of a job, come look us up, you hear?”

“ I will, and thank you for letting us travel with you.”

“ It was nothing, you pulled more than your own weight and I’m pretty sure that bandit attack would’ve been the end of us if you hadn’t been there.”

“ I wish I’d saved Lazuli.” Weiss sighed, looking over at Periwinkle’s retreating back.

“ Hey, don’t go beating yourself up over that. It’s not your fault, no matter what Huang says. You know, I don’t think he’s going to be second in command for much longer.” Hong set down forcefully and Weiss nodded, lapsing into a short silence.

“ I’m going to miss you.” Weiss smiled wanly at the hulking guard.

“ Yeah, me too.” They patted Weiss warmly on the shoulder and Weiss gave their hand a quick squeeze before they started to walk away.

“ Goodbye, Hong” She called out and Hong looked back over their shoulder.

“ Good luck, Weiss. I hope you find whoever it is you’re looking for in Menagerie.” Before she could properly register just what they had said, Hong had vanished into the crowd of workers. Weiss stood stunned for a minute, processing. How long had they known? She was tempted to chase after them, but was distracted by a familiar flash of pink and brown.

Making amends with Neo was more important. Weiss chased after the shorter woman, dodging past Huang and a few other members of the caravan, finally catching up to Neo at the entrance to the building.

“ Neo!” The multicoloured girl turned to face Weiss, face impassive but she waited for Weiss to approach. “I needed to tell you something before you leave.” Weiss could have sworn she saw a look of sadness sweep across Neo’s face before smoothing back to neutrality.

‘ _ What did you want to say?’ _

“ I’m sorry, I’m really sorry for asking about… you know, after you told me last night that you wanted to keep things private. I could try and come up with justifications but they don’t matter and I’m sorry.” Weiss sighed deeply, letting her head droop. “I don’t want our journey together to end on a bad note.” Again, Neo’s expression dropped minutely.

‘ It’s fine. Good luck.’ Weiss barely time to read the message before Neo vanished out of the building, and by the time Weiss ran after her, she was gone. She should be glad she was no longer burdened by the pastel hellion and her eccentricities, but Neo’s absence left a strange pit in Weiss’ stomach. Dejectedly, Weiss began to make her way towards the harbour to find out when the next boat to Menagerie was, not noticing a bulky figure wearing yellow watching her go.

Despite Dolmen being smaller than Vale, the port was just as large and packed, Weiss having to dodge between the crowds as she tried to reach the harbourmaster’s office. It wasn’t that surprising. Before air travel, the only way to get to the other kingdoms was by boat, and Dolmen was far closer to Anima and Solitas than Vale was.

As she went, Weiss was unnerved to see more than just the signs in shop windows declaring their anti-Faunus intent. Entire posters were plastered across various walls, proclaiming that the Faunus were a menace that should be put down or put on a boat and sent back to where they came from.

Shifting her cloak uncomfortably and pulling up her hood, Weiss found herself walking just a little faster towards the squat building on the edge of the docks, trying to keep her wings as still and tight to her back as possible. Perhaps she’d underestimated just how much influence this movement had. She was definitely seeing Blake’s point about a broken system, determined to make life a living hell for the Faunus.

Gingerly, she pushed open the door of the office to see a portly middle-aged man sat behind a desk tapping away at the keyboard of an ancient-looking computer.

“ Um, excuse me?” The man looked up and frowned at Weiss.

“ What do you want?” He snapped, making Weiss take a step back at his forcefulness.

“ I-I wanted to book passage on a boat.” She stammered out.

“ You do that at the boats themselves, little girl. Now leave me alone, I’m a busy man.” He dismissed her with a wave and returned to whatever it was he was typing.

“ Oh, well I did need to know where I could find a boat to Menagerie.” That got the man’s attention properly, he slowly looked back up at her and Weiss took another step back at the disdainful look in his eyes.

“ I see.” He fell silent, shuffling a few papers. “Here, Captain Azure of the Pride of Sanus is headed out to Menagerie.”

“ Thank you.” She nodded at him and left the building, electing to ignore the man’s muttered ‘Good riddance.’

Stepping outside, she checked the dock map projected just by the door and in short order found where the Pride of Sanus was moored. She swiftly trotted along the quayside and soon was beside the ship. It was quite a bit larger than the one Weiss had caught from Patch, but that was to be expected given that is was made for inter-continental travel. Stood beside the gangplank was a young woman, lazily playing with a knife.

“ Um, excuse me? This is the Pride of Sanus right?” The woman looked up and stowed her blade quickly.

“ Yeah, finest vessel this side of Vale. What do you want?” Her voice was raspy but not unkind as she looked curiously down at Weiss.

“ I’m looking to book passage to Menagerie. I heard you’re bound for there.” Weiss shuffled uncomfortably, waiting for a similar reaction from the crew member, but instead only received a happy grin.

“ Headed back to the homeland, eh?” She straightened up and started towards the gangplank. “We can get you there no problem, let me just get the captain for ya.” And with that, she vanished up the gangplank and into the ship. Weiss waited nervously by the water’s edge, looking around every so often, worried that people might know the Pride of Sanus made the journey to Menagerie and put the pieces together about her.

After another couple of minutes, Weiss heard heavy footsteps coming down the gangplank and she turned to see a stout and impressively muscled woman making her way onto the dock.

“ So, Cobalt here says you’re looking for passage to Menagerie.” The Captain had a similarly raspy voice, though it carried far more authority. Weiss wondered whether it was the sea air and made a mental note to check later.

“ Yes Ma’am.” Weiss replied, the sheer confidence the woman exuded compelling Weiss to be polite.

“ Hah, Ma’am.” The Captain barked with laughter, to accompanying chuckles from Cobalt. “Just call me Captain Azure or just Captain and we’ll be fine. Now we leave tomorrow morning but we can put you up on the ship tonight. We sail to Sakura first, then on to Kuo Kuana, and it’ll take us a little over two weeks to get there.” Weiss nodded along, she was surprised they were stopping at Sakura, but she supposed they got more passengers that way.

“ Okay, sounds good.”

“ Right, it’ll be 1500 Lien, food provided as well.” The Captain grinned down, holding out an expectant hand. Weiss quickly fished out her wallet and counted out her remaining lien. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found she had just enough, she definitely needed to visit a bank before they departed.

“ Okay here you go.” She said, counting out the lien into the Captain’s palm.

“ Pleasure doing business with you Miss…?”

“ Ivory.” Weiss lied smoothly, having gotten used to the fake name over the last few days.

“ Ivory, right. Well give us an hour or so to make sure your cabin’s ship-shape. Ha!” Captain Azure elbowed Cobalt in the ribs. “Until then, you might want to get anything you need doing on dry land done. And I hate to say, but your clothes smell like they could use a wash.” Weiss winced at the stage whisper, trying to surreptitiously sniff at her clothes.

“ Yes, perhaps a trip to a launderers would be advisable.” She admitted, accepting the light-hearted snickering with good grace. “I should get going if I’m to have it done on time.” The Captain nodded in agreement and waved cheerfully as Weiss walked away.

Navigating her way back through the crush of people, Weiss eventually managed to make her way out of the docklands and into the city proper. It was very different to how Vale had been when Weiss had left. As expected there was no structural damage, but there were also far more people out and about. The very first thing Weiss did was head to the nearest bank and withdrew as much cash as possible. She had a feeling Menagerie didn’t have very much by way of international banking.

Stuffing it securely in her wallet, Weiss decided her next mission was to find a clothing store for some extra changes of clothes and casual wear and eventually found herself leaving a reasonably priced establishment in joggers and a t-shirt, cloak still firmly wrapped around her. She felt oddly exposed wearing such casual clothes, even after she’d stopped wearing the fancy dresses Jacques Schnee had liked to trot her out in, she’d still had a proclivity for more formal attire and it was one Coco had been happy to oblige.

Perhaps Coco had known about this ‘dapper butch’ thing Neo had mentioned and intentionally leaned into it when designing Weiss’ new style. It certainly wouldn’t surprise her, the fashionista was the most knowledgeable person she knew when it came to clothing and being a lesbian.

It took her longer to find a place where she could wash her clothes, but she eventually found a place just off a square downtown where she noticed several of the buildings looked more rundown than the rest of the city. It took Weiss a few times to work out how the washing machine worked. Tai had very graciously handled the laundry when she’d stayed on Patch, and she’d had servants or Beacon faculty the rest of the time.

Eventually she found the slot to pay, set the machine to what she hoped was an appropriate mode and waited, seating herself on one of the uncomfortable chairs in the centre of the tiled room. Weiss tried to get comfortable, but much like the chairs in Beacon library the ones in the laundromat had a back that crushed her wings and rendered her deeply uncomfortable.

After a few minutes of shifting and trying to find a position to sit that wouldn’t end up giving her wing cramp, Weiss eventually gave up and let her wings flex out. Finally comfortable, she withdrew her scroll and opened up a book she’d been reading every so often on the journey. Taiyang, as it turned out, had a fairly large collection of books loaded on his scroll, and he’d been all too happy to pass them on to Weiss.

Alone as she was in the building, Weiss was free to spend a couple of uninterrupted hours reading, pausing only to move her clothes into a dryer, unheeding of the steadily growing group of people in the square outside. There was a strange silence now that Neo wasn’t around, although silence probably wasn’t the right word to use in this context. Weiss had gotten oddly used to Neo’s constant presence by her side, with her over the top expressions and icon-laden messages. But now she was gone, things felt emptier and a strange tension pervaded her. It was similar to how she’d felt when she left Ruby back on Patch and first few days of travelling.

She was just about to start the next chapter when the timer on the machine beeped, signalling that her clothes were finally clean. Standing up and brushing herself off, Weiss unloaded her clothes and neatly folded them into her satchel. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a place for her to get changed in the laundromat, so she’d have to keep wearing her casual clothes until she got back to the boat. Checking she had everything with her, Weiss stepped out of the building and froze.

A large rally had gathered outside whilst she hadn’t been paying attention. A large rally with a massive familiar banner declaring ‘Get the Animals out of Vale!’ Quickly, Weiss adjusted her cloak, praying that nobody in the crowd noticed her or her wings. For a brief moment, Weiss thought she’d gotten away with it. Then she saw a familiar blond staring straight at her from behind the stage.

This was bad, this was very bad. The way back to the docks was on the other side of the square, so Weiss quickly started to skirt the shouting crowd as a man shouted slogans and hate.

“ They come over here and take our jobs-.” He cut off in the middle of a rant and Weiss spun around to see Huang whispering something into the man’s ear and pointing directly at her. Cursing, Weiss sped up but froze when the man started hollering again.

“ Well, well, well! An esteemed friend of mine tells me that we’ve got a Faunus in our midst” She knew she should keep moving, but for some reason her legs refused to move. “And not just any Faunus neither! Weiss Schnee!” There was a rumbling from the crowd as they all turned to look at one another, looking for the not-so-ex-heiress.

“ There she is! In the white cloak.” The man hollered out and like a ripple, the crowd turned to look at Weiss who quailed under the force of so many glares of hatred. “Tell me, what’s it like being the bastard whose mother had the gall to cuckold the head of the SDC?”

Weiss tried to speak, but couldn’t quite form the words. It felt like she’d swallowed a mouthful of sand and her ears were humming with the painfully familiar buzz.

“ Cat got your tongue, half-breed?” There was a roar of laughter from the crowd, jeering and vitriol washed over Weiss but still she stood frozen. “You know the White Fang’s got a bounty on your head? How’s it feel to have your own worthless trash race reject you?”

“ Sh-Shut up!” She finally managed to stammer out, but received only more laughter and ridicule.

“ Aww, she wants us to shut up!” The man roared with laughter, all the while Huang stood to the back of the stage, smirking in smug satisfaction. “Now, we could throw you to the wolves, and it would serve you right, but we don’t deal with animals. But don’t you worry girlie, we’ve got our own justice.” Weiss noticed out of the corner of her eye several burly men edging their way through the crowd towards her. “Get her, boys!”

At that, her legs finally unfroze and Weiss bolted. Several members of the crowd tried to catch her, to hold her for the men, but they were untrained civilians and Weiss slipped out of their grasps easily. Knocking down a few more of the crowd, Weiss finally burst out and onto the road leading back towards the docks. Glancing back, she saw the men emerging from the crowd and she sped up, feet pounding on the tarmac.

Her breath came hard and fast as she ran. Maybe she could lose them in the crowd on the docks. Lilie der Rache smacked hard against her side as her arms pumped and she considered using the gauntlet on her pursuers. If she was fast enough she could use her Gravity Dust to immobilise them and not cause them any lasting harm. But before Weiss could implement her plan, she skidded to a halt as three men charged out of a side street in front of her. Panic flooded Weiss, it was just like CRDL in the alleyway. Her breathing sped up even more and the buzzing increased in volume.

Frantically, she looked around for an escape. She could use her Gravity Dust to scale one of the buildings or Wind Dust to launch herself over the advancing men. Her panicked mind flitted through half a dozen plans, but none cemented themselves or reached any kind of conclusion. Just as Weiss was about to choose one at random to enact, she was saved from her indecision by a pastel blur falling from above and smashing hard into one of the pursuers.

“ Neo!?” Weiss shouted in sheer confusion as the multicoloured girl danced around her, swinging her parasol and landing precise strikes on the men, and Weiss could hear the occasional snap of bones as Neo went. In no time at all, the men were groaning or crying out in pain on the floor and Neo stood calmly above, glaring coldly down at them. Weiss could only gape as Neo spun round to face her and flashed her a blinding grin and a scroll message.

‘ Hey Ice Queen! 😁😁’ Weiss finally managed to regain the power of speech and ceased her gaping.

“ Neo, what are you doing here?” Neo rolled her eyes as she typed out a new message.

‘ We can talk later, when you haven’t got a mob of racists chasing you.’ And before Weiss could protest, Neo grabbed her by the wrist and began hauling her away towards the docks, leaving the beaten men in their wake.

It was only when they were out of sight of where the fight had happened that Neo loosed her grip on Weiss, but she didn’t slow down from a brisk walk. In short order they were at the docks and became lost amongst the crowds, Neo letting out a sigh of relief and finally slowing down.

“Now will you tell me what you were doing there?” Weiss asked, breathing hard to catch her breath from the excitement. Neo blushed a little as she wrote out a fresh message.

‘I was worried about you, so I followed you.’ The Faunus blinked in confusion.

“You were worried about me?” She was simultaneously touched and baffled by Neo’s sentiment.

‘Uhhhh, Faunus hate posters stuck up all over the place? You aren’t exactly safe here.’ The shorter girl gestured with her parasol at a nearby wall to demonstrate. ‘And I would’ve thought you’d get that I care about you after you almost got eaten by a Nevermore a couple of days ago.’ Weiss did have to concede the point, and already the tension tightening her muscles was loosening.

“Okay, sure. Well, thank you for the assist, you were a big help.” Neo smiled beatifically at the praise, preening a little as she came to a halt beside a ship. Weiss hadn’t noticed until they stopped, but Neo had led her right to the Pride of Sanus. She looked up the gangplank then back down at her multi-coloured companion, regretting that this would be yet another final parting with Neo. Then an idea wormed its way into Weiss’ head. It was dumb, and Neo would never agree to it, but she had to ask anyway.

“Have you booked passage on a ship to Anima yet?” She asked and the shorter girl cocked her head in confusion. “Why don’t you come with me on this one? It’s travelling to Anima before it goes on to Menagerie.” Neo’s eyes widened in surprise, then a sheepish grin spread across her face.

‘Funny you should suggest that. 😅😅’ Weiss only had to puzzle over Neo’s message for a second when a booming rasp called out.

“Hey, Neo! You find your friend?” Captain Azure came clomping down the gangplank as Weiss gave Neo a look and received a shrug in return. “Oh Ivory, you’re Neo’s friend?”

“Yep, I am.” Weiss sighed in resignation, though her heart swelled just a little.

“Small world then, isn’t it? Anyway, your cabins are ready whenever you want ‘em, just ask Cobalt.” Whistling a jaunty tune, the Captain strolled past them and away along the waterside.

“Were you planning on telling me you booked passage on the same boat as me? Or were you going to hide for the entire journey?” Neo simply shrugged again and Weiss groaned in mild annoyance, business as usual with her new friend.

“Well, at least we won’t have to share a bed this time around.” Weiss took mild comfort in this, again not noticing the mild frustration cross Neo’s face. Rolling her eyes, the shorter woman trotted up the gangplank, leaving Weiss to follow. As she went, Weiss couldn’t help but feel just a little lighter that she wouldn’t be alone on her journey, at least for a little while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess Neo won't be leaving so soon after all, who would have thought it. Good thing too, not that Weiss couldn't have handled the mob. I'm kind of sad Hong and the others are actually leaving now though, I'm not normally a fan of OCs but they've grown on me.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being distracting.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	12. Chapter 12

Weiss was awakened the next morning by a low rumbling reverberating throughout her cabin. Groaning, she rolled over to check her scroll as it charged on the tiny bedside table. The display informed her it was half past seven, later than Weiss would’ve preferred, but given that she no longer had lessons there was no reason other than habit for her to be waking up so early.

Stretching out as much as she could in the tiny cabin, Weiss rolled out of bed and collected her bathroom supplies. None of the cabins were en-suite and instead two people shared a bathroom. Weiss rolled her eyes to herself at how Neo had cajoled the Captain into giving her the room that shared adjoined Weiss’. Stepping out into the corridor, Weiss walked over to the shared bathroom and tapped lightly on the door.

“ Neo? Are you in there?” She asked, only to receive silence in return before Weiss face-palmed, once again forgetting that Neo couldn’t exactly communicate when out of sight. Her problem was alleviated, however, by the door clicking open and Neo’s dishevelled multi-coloured head poking out, toothbrush lodged firmly in her mouth.

‘ _ Good morning Weiss!’  _ She signed, opening the door fully to ‘talk’ properly.

“ Good morning, Neo. I can see you’re busy, so I’ll leave you to it and come back a bit later.” Weiss moved to go back to her cabin, but was halted by Neo’s hand grasping her wrist.

‘ There’s plenty of room, don’t delay on my account. 😜😜’ Weiss raised an eyebrow at Neo’s suggestion.

“ I wanted to take a shower.”

‘ And?’ Weiss gave Neo a flat look, which did nothing to diminish the wide grin spread across her face.

“ That’s not going to happen, Neo.”

‘ There were communal showers at Beacon. I should know, I used them a few times.’ Weiss sharp retort died in her throat as she got derailed by this tidbit of information.

“ You what?!” At her unexpectedly loud shriek, Neo hastily pulled Weiss into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind them whilst making frantic hushing gestures.

‘ Calm down, Weiss or you’ll disturb people.’

“ I am calm!” Weiss protested, though she did lower her voice a little. “What on Remnant were you doing using the Beacon changing room showers?” Neo smiled in that sheepish way she did whenever something awkward relating to the Fall came up.

‘ So you know Cinder, Mercury and Emerald infiltrated the tournament as a team from Haven?’ Weiss nodded, already piecing things together as Neo’s form shimmered into a vaguely familiar black-haired girl with green eyes wearing black and white ruffled clothing.

‘ I may have been the fourth member of their team. Surprise? 😅’ Weiss remained speechless for a minute until the illusion surrounding Neo shattered.

“ _ You  _ were Liquorice!” The multi-coloured girl recoiled slightly at the irritation in Weiss’ tone, but it was mostly directed at herself. “I spent months trying to work out who she was and how she tied into everything, but all this time it was you.” Neo just shrugged awkwardly.

‘ Yep, sorry for not telling you sooner?’ Weiss sighed deeply, stroking the bridge of her nose in exasperation, before looking back to the shorter woman.

“ Right, you’re going to finish getting ready and I’m going to take a shower.  _ After you’ve finished in here _ .” She hastily tacked on at the lecherous grin that began to creep across Neo’s face before being replaced by a look of disappointment. Weiss took it back, this girl was even worse than Yang when it came to shamelessness, she seemed to expect everyone else to be just as shameless. “And then you’re going to tell me everything you learned about Cinder and her plans.” She took Neo’s silence to be agreement, so she slipped around the multi-coloured girl to unlock the door and slip out of the bathroom, only to come face to face with Captain Azure.

“ Is everything alright? Someone thought they heard shouting from down here.” She rasped out, and Weiss quickly stammered out.

“ Oh no, everything’s fine, Captain. Just a small disagreement over who gets to use the bathroom first.” She lied, but the Captain just raised an eyebrow, which rose even higher when Neo emerged a moment later, hair still messy and sleep shirt hanging off one of her shoulders.

“ I see, well try not to disturb the other passengers. And don’t forget, the cabins do lock if you want more comfortable privacy than the bathroom.” With that, Captain Azure tipped her hat at the pair and sauntered off, whistling a jaunty tune and leaving Weiss thoroughly confused.

“ Why would she feel the need to remind us that the cabins have locks?” She asked of nobody in particular, not paying attention to the massive grin now adorning Neo’s features.

‘ Who knows. 😁😁 Bathroom’s all yours btw.’ The shorter girl skipped away and into her own room. After another moment puzzling over the captain’s odd advice, Weiss shrugged and stepped into the bathroom, trying to come up with any important questions she needed to ask of Neo.

* * *

“ Seriously, that’s it?” Weiss asked incredulously, handing back Neo’s scroll where she’d been going through the shorter girl’s notes on Cinder’s plans. They’d both retreated into Neo’s room, which Weiss noted was somehow in complete disarray despite them only having had them for one night, and sat together on the bed.

‘ I told you, she didn’t tell me or Roman more than what she thought we needed to know, sorry.’ Neo frowned in displeasure at her inability to be of more use to Weiss.

“ So you have no idea where she got that virus from, or who she was really working for?” Weiss reiterated, hoping maybe the answer would change.

‘ Sorry, no. She just gave me the scroll and told me to plug it into any Atlas ship and it would take care of the rest.’ Weiss perked up in hope.

“ That wasn’t this scroll, was it?” Again, Neo shook her head in sorrow.

‘ No, it got destroyed in the airship crash.’ She typed out. ‘This is my personal scroll and no way was I letting some virus thing onto it.’ Weiss nodded in understanding, knowing just how important the scroll was to Neo.

“ Probably for the best then.” Weiss tried to keep the mild disappointment out of her voice. Even if she didn’t know the first thing about computers, having a sample of what Neo had dubbed ‘The Black Queen Virus’ wouldn’t hurt.

‘ _ I’m sorry’  _ Neo signed and Weiss jolted, quickly marshalling her expression.

“ What for?”

‘ For not being more useful, for not really being able to make up for the mistakes I made and for everything I’ve done.’ The shorter girl refused to look up at Weiss, instead picking at her nail beds, until Weiss caught her hands gently in her own.

“ Don’t do that, please. You’ll ruin your nails, for a start.” The shorter girl’s fingers stilled as Weiss weaved hers in with Neo’s like she’d do with Blake whenever the cat Faunus was worrying over something. “I’m sorry if I made it sound like I was annoyed with you, it’s not your fault. And please don’t blame yourself so much. You said it yourself, you regret what you did but you can’t go back and change the past.” Neo untangled one of her hands from Weiss’ so she could type freely.

‘ But it’s my fault your friends are gone, my fault Roman’s gone too.’ The Faunus tried to take Neo’s hand again to still her frantically typing fingers, but the shorter woman withdrew the scroll slightly.

‘ I would’ve followed him into Hell, and I did. But only I came back out.’ Neo let the scroll slip from her fingers as Weiss felt little drops of water land on their intertwined hands.

Weiss wasn’t sure how long they stayed sat together, listening to the almost silent sobs and the soothing sounds of waves as they cruised away from Sanus. Eventually, Neo pulled away, swiping at her eyes with her sleeve.

‘ I think I want to be alone for a bit’

“ Sure, whatever you want.” Weiss rose quietly and left the room, retreating to her own cabin, where she spent the rest of the day reading and thinking about Neo and Torchwick.

* * *

Over the next few days whenever Weiss wasn’t learning ASL with Neo, she was up on deck, enjoying the crisp sea air. There were enough Faunus on the ship that Weiss actually felt comfortable letting her wings out from beneath her cloak, though she still left the hood up to conceal her distinctive white hair.

They were a couple of days out from Sakura and once again Weiss was confronted with the knowledge that soon she’d be alone again. She had on occasion and during moments of weakness, lying in bed alone and staring up at the ceiling, considered asking Neo to come with her to Menagerie, but it was just an idle thought.

There was no way Neo would agree to go with her, she had her justice in Haven to get to. And although Weiss was disappointed that it was very likely Neo would deny her the satisfaction of taking Cinder’s head, Weiss’ own mission was far more important. Besides, it didn’t matter who ended Cinder Fall’s miserable existence. This was justice, not petty vengeance.

She was pulled from her reverie by a light tap on her upper arm. Weiss turned to see Neo grinning up at her, parasol open and shading her from the bright autumn sun.

‘ Hey, Weiss. What you up to? 😄’

“Just enjoying the breeze.” Weiss leaned back against the railing and looked up at the birds wheeling overhead. She was mildly disappointed they weren’t albatross, but Ruby had told her they lived up North, around Atlas

Travelling by ship was a novel experience, Weiss had decided. You saw a lot more, despite most of it being water, and it was far more relaxing than air travel. That said, she had caught sight of some aquatic Grimm once or twice, too small to pose much of a threat, but they did ensure Weiss was on edge most of the time.

She’d heard tales of gigantic sea Grimm, many tentacled beasts and gaping maws that were more mouth than anything else. None that were officially verified of course, but Weiss did have to wonder. Now that she was thinking about it, maybe air travel was better after all.

‘Lien for your thoughts?’ Neo’s scroll appeared in the corner of Weiss’ vision and she looked back at the diminutive girl.

“Nothing worth talking about, nothing of consequence at least.” She answered, letting her gaze slide away from Neo to the bow of the ship where Captain Azure stood, apparently taking a break from the helm.

“We’ll be in Sakura soon, have you thought of how you’re going to get to Haven?” Neo shrugged uncomfortably.

‘Commandeer an airship or something? I don’t know. 🤷’ Neo’s eyes flickered around and Weiss couldn’t help but feel she was hiding something.

“Something the matter?” She asked quietly, remembering their first day on the ship.

‘I just never really thought that far ahead. I’m not much of a planner ya know?’ Weiss hummed in agreement. Truth be told, despite being Team RWBY’s primary planner she’d put very little thought into what she was actually going to do in order to reunite Blake and Yang. Honestly, her current plan was to knock Blake out and haul her unconscious body back to Patch. Maybe Sun would help with that.

Tabling the thought for now, Weiss noticed Neo had ceased her odd eye movements and had instead leaned up against the railing beside her, just close enough to be in Weiss’ personal space, but not so close to be uncomfortable. Looking down at the multi-coloured girl, Weiss was once again struck by how pretty Neo was. Delicate and waifish, with her hair curling in the sea breeze and what was Weiss thinking?! She pinched her arm hard, eliciting a soft squeak of pain that drew a strange look from Neo.

“It’s nothing.” She reassured herself as much as Neo. Because it was nothing, it was just appreciation, like one might admire a fine piece of art. Never mind how her heart felt like it was beating an allegro in her chest.

It was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Weiss had Ruby and that was that. She knew what happened when people cheated. Affairs led to fathers getting murdered and mothers retreating to the bottom of a bottle. Weiss jumped when a gentle hand touched her arm and Neo’s scroll popped into her view along with Neo herself, concern lining her face.

‘It doesn’t look like nothing.’ Weiss, however, was only half paying attention to Neo as she’d noticed just over the shorter girl’s shoulder, Captain Azure stood watching, grinning and making odd gestures at Weiss. Something clicked in Weiss’ mind. It was too much, it was all too much.

“I-I’m not feeling so good, I’m going to go lie down.” Weiss not-quite lied, pulling away from Neo and practically running away from her, vanishing into the bowels of the ship and not slowing until she was safe in her room. Slamming and locking the door behind her, Weiss collapsed against it and slid down to the floor, tears threatening to spill out.

She liked Neo, she had to. Hong had thought they were together and it seemed so did the Captain. And it couldn’t just be Neo’s Neo-ness, some of it had to be coming from Weiss. Gods, she was a terrible person. She was  _ Ruby’s  _ girlfriend, more than that even. She looked down at her left hand and the ring glittering there, the heart-shaped cut-out where Ruby’s ring would fit was painfully apparent.

For one brief mad moment she wanted to tear the ring off and fling it as far away from her as possible. She didn’t deserve Ruby or her love. They’d only been apart for almost two weeks and Weiss was already making eyes at another woman. She caught herself before she could tear the jewellery off her finger. No, that wasn’t the way.

“Ruby loves me. She loves me and I love her.” Weiss reassured herself, forcing her breathing to slow and her rapid beating heart to calm. She was faithful to Ruby, so she’d suppress whatever it was she felt for Neo, she had to. Surely it wouldn’t be that hard, and besides, it was only for another couple of days.

* * *

Really, Weiss should have expected this as she glared down at a sheepishly grinning Neo. They’d arrived at Sakura yesterday and Weiss had sent Neo on her way with a couple of totally platonic hugs and watched as the multicoloured girl trotted down the gangplank and out of sight. Only the next morning as she stepped into the bathroom, she’d found a half-dressed Neo brushing her hair.

“Neo, what are you doing here?” Weiss’ voice was so calm it surprised her, and Neo’s eyes grew wide at the unfamiliar tone.

_ ‘I wanted to come with you?’  _ Neo’s hands moved uncertainly, and Weiss sighed, trying to modulate her voice and calm the mild irritation that mixed with joy inside her.

“We are not having this conversation over a bathroom threshold, come on.” The Faunus led the way into her cabin and seated herself on the bed, leaving the shorter girl standing.

“You never intended to get off at Sakura, did you?” She stated and Neo nodded hesitantly. “And let me guess, you came along because you were worried about me?” A headshake this time and Weiss cocked an eyebrow.

_ ‘I didn’t want to be alone again’  _ Neo signed and Weiss sighed deeply, trying to keep a grateful smile off her face, knowing exactly what she meant. They’d only been apart for half a day and yet again Weiss had felt the bitter sting of loneliness.

“Neo, Menagerie’s for Faunus, not Humans, I don’t know if you’d be safe there.” She voiced her concern, and Neo just shrugged.

_ ‘If Blake’s father is anything like her then I’ll be fine.’  _ Weiss did have to concede the point, although Ironwood being in charge in Atlas and reasonably pro-Faunus didn’t stop Atlas having the highest rate of hate-crimes.

“I guess I’m stuck with you then?” She allowed herself a wry smile as Neo nodded happily.

_ ‘Yep, we’ll get Blake and sort out whatever it is that needs sorting, then we can go to Haven and get our justice.’  _ And then without warning, Neo jumped forward to wrap Weiss in a tight hug, breaking away quickly, sheepish grin back in place.  _ ‘Sorry, I should’ve asked. And probably told you I was tagging along.’ _

“Yes, you should have.” Weiss tried to keep her tone flat and disapproving, but couldn’t stop the light flush that crossed her face as she wondered if she could keep everything under wraps with Neo sticking around.

* * *

“Land ho!” The cry sounded out, distracting Weiss from the yoga Neo had been teaching her. Two weeks spent in close proximity and Weiss was sure she was on the verge of a heart attack with how fast her heart would beat whenever Neo would hug her, or interlock arms, or even just stand just close enough to touch. Weiss had tried pulling back from the physical displays of affection she’d normally show with someone like Blake or Yang, but it had been a futile effort. As her gestures decreased, Neo’s only seemed to increase in response. The worst part was that she didn’t even find it at all objectionable, despite her best efforts to keep her feelings for Neo strictly platonic.

Standing up, she looked out across the bow as Neo bounded up and hopped on the railing to see. There was a brief moment of panic as a sudden gust of wind caught her hat and sent it spinning off her head, but it was quickly caught by Weiss, who returned it as she joined Neo at the bow. Just off in the distance, maybe an hour away was the tropical island of Menagerie and right by the sea was the capital of:

“Kuo Kuana.” Weiss whispered, almost reverently and Neo nodded, shielding her eyes to look. They’d finally made it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, they have reached Menagerie! And our dear troublemaker still refuses to leave, I wonder why that may be. Anyway, I've been looking forward to this arc for literally months, Weiss going to Menagerie after Blake has been planned from pretty much the fic's inception and I have so much planned.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading despite bullying me and calling me cute, which I am not.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	13. Chapter 13

‘_ If you keep that up you’ll wear a hole in the deck and sink us.’ _Neo signed wryly at a restlessly pacing Weiss. They were only a few minutes from docking and Weiss had spent the last fifteen minutes quietly panicking and trying to think about what she was going to do.

“I can’t help it! I didn’t think this far ahead.” Weiss whined, hands automatically forming the signs as she spoke. After another two weeks of intensive learning of ASL with Neo, Weiss was well on her way to becoming fluent, and the shorter woman had suggested she practice by signing even when speaking out loud.

‘_ You’ve been planning this for months now, I thought you were your team’s brains.’ _Neo smirked from her perch on the railing.

“I did have plans. But they didn’t account for a certain someone to follow me like a little lost puppy.” The multi-coloured girl shrugged unapologetically at Weiss’ flat stare.

‘_ Don’t try to deny that you like having me around.’ _Weiss opened her mouth to protest, but closed it when none came. Technically she did have one complaint, but telling Neo would make it far too real. So instead, Weiss returned to her pacing, struggling to think of a plan.

“Welcome to Kuo Kuana!” Captain Azure’s voice rang out over the ship’s intercom. “Thank you for travelling aboard the Pride of Sanus.” There was a soft bump as the ship halted and the gangplank was lowered onto the dock.

“I guess we’re here.” Neo nodded cheerfully, hopping down and opening up her parasol again as Weiss for her part merely raised her hood, their pale Atlesian skin threatening to burn in the bright tropical sun. It was still warm here in the southern hemisphere, spring was not yet over and it would be summer in a matter of weeks.

Slowly, the pair descended the gangplank and tried not to gawk at just how different it was from anywhere else they had been. Weiss had thought Vale was crowded at the time, but that was nothing compared to the crush of people in the dockside market. Stalls cramped together selling all sorts of goods, from fresh fruit to homeware, whilst people haggled with the various stall owners and went about their business.

The large number of people made Weiss nervous. The more there were, the more likely it was someone might recognise her. She forced herself to relax a little, she had just as much right to be here as anyone else, and unconsciously her wings flared out a little to make her seem larger. She’d never seen so many Faunus all in one place before, all of them with their traits proudly on display and frequently adorned with jewellery or other decorations.

Carefully, the pair picked their way through the crowd until they were out of the main market and on the road towards the main city. Despite there being fewer people here, the place felt no less cramped. Wooden houses of unfamiliar design, with some on stilts, were crammed as close together as they could be. All the technology looked as though it was from fifty years ago, even the one or two cars they saw.

‘It’s so different from the rest of Remnant, isn’t it?’ Neo’s scroll popped into the corner of Weiss’ eyeline. ‘I can see the Mistrali influences in the architecture, but it’s still unfamiliar somehow.’

“Now you’re expert in architecture are you?” Weiss teased, dodging around some children playing in the street, as they crested a hill and looked over the bulk of the city. Several winding streets led off the main road, disappearing into the warren of houses. At the end of the road stood a massive mansion, so different to all the others in both size and the lack of any surrounding buildings.

‘I’m guessing that’s the chief’s house huh?’ Weiss nodded and flagged down a passing wolf Faunus.

“Excuse me, is that chief Belladonna’s house just there?” She pointed at the mansion and the Faunus nodded slowly.

“Yeah, that’s right. Why do you want to know?” He asked suspiciously.

“New to the island, just trying to get our bearings.” Weiss half lied, which seemed to satisfy the man, who shrugged and continued on his way. “Shall we?” She gestured to Neo, who promptly linked her free arm with Weiss and began pulling her along at a brisk pace. Weiss’ heart was not supposed to be beating this fast over a little interpersonal contact.

As they approached the house, the white-haired girl was surprised that there were no guards posted outside. In Atlas she knew every council member’s house had a 24/7 security detail.

“Neo, I think maybe you should not look like you.” The multi-coloured girl cocked her head in confusion. “Blake might recognise you, and that’s a whole mess we do not want to deal with when we first meet her.” Nodding somewhat reluctantly, Neo released Weiss and her form shimmered back into that of Liquorice, though her parasol remained unchanged.

‘Better?’ She asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow.

“For now. Once we’ve gotten through the initial shock, I can introduce you properly.” Weiss offered and Neo reluctantly nodded.

‘Feels like lying though. 🙁’

“I’m sorry.” Weiss told her as she reached out for the door knocker. “I’ll make it up to you sometime.” The look on Neo’s face almost made her regret her words, but it was too late to take the promise back as she raised the knocker and let it slam against the door. The sound was loud and reverberated through the pair, who took a step back in case the door opened outwards. Then a few moments later, it opened, revealing a short dark-skinned cat Faunus with multiple piercings in her ears. Weiss was taken aback by just how much she looked like Blake, if Blake had shorter hair and was about twenty years older.

“Can I help you?” Her voice was warm and melodic, though not unwary, and for some reason it instantly put Weiss at ease.

“Mrs Belladonna?” She asked tentatively and the woman nodded.

“Yes, did you want to see my husband?” She tilted her head questioningly.

“Actually, we’re here to see your daughter, Blake.” All at once, Mrs Belladonna’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and her voice turned sharp

“Who exactly are you?” Weiss opened her mouth to frantically explain herself, pulling her hood back, when she caught sight of something moving behind the woman in the doorway.

“Who is it Mo-. Weiss!?!” Blake Belladonna in the flesh. It took Weiss a moment to recognise her, her hair had been cut into a chin length bob and her skin had tanned considerably to a warm mocha colour, but it was unmistakably Blake. The pair stared at each other in shock for a moment, whilst Mrs Belladonna looked between them in dawning comprehension and Neo stood by politely, watching the situation unfold.

“Weiss Schnee?” Blake’s mother finally broke the silence. As if waiting for this signal, Blake turned on her heel to flee deeper into the house, followed a split second later by Weiss.

“Sorry!” She cried out, barging past Mrs Belladonna and chasing after Blake. “You get back here, Blake Belladonna!” Her yells went unheeded as Blake continued to run through the twisting corridors of the house. Suddenly they emerged into a large open room with no corners for Blake to dodge around. She made a mad dash for the nearest window, but Weiss had been ready for this and already had Lilie der Rache pointed at the aperture. With a pulse of aura the window sealed over with ice, sending Blake skidding to a halt and whirling to fearfully face the vengeful not-so-ex-heiress.

“W-Weiss...” There was an almost imperceptible tremor to Blake’s voice that broke through Weiss’ anger and made her lower Lilie just a little. In that moment, Blake sprang for another window, only for Weiss to pulse her aura again, encasing Blake’s legs in a block of ice. Breathing heavily after the short chase, Weiss approached the struggling Faunus and was about to start her improvised speech when she was interrupted by a loud and very angry shout.

“What is the meaning of this!?!” Whirling around in panic, Weiss was confronted with an absolute giant of a man flanked by two guards. Weiss had thought Taiyang was tall, but now she was hastily changing her assessment as she backed away in fear, raising her hands.

“P-Please, sir I-I can explain.” She managed to stammer out, shrinking into herself as the guards moved to flank her and the man stomped forward, towering over her.

“You can explain why you invaded my home and attacked my child?!” The thundering voice forced a frightened squeak from Weiss, who cowered away, withdrawing even further into herself. Just as she braced herself for the blow she knew was coming, eyes screwed shut, another voice interrupted the conversation.

“Ghira, calm down!” Letting one eye slide open, Weiss saw Mrs Belladonna followed by a very anxious-looking Neo step into the room.

“Kali, this girl just broke into our home and attacked Blake!” He gestured to his daughter, who was still stuck in place, eyes still blown wide in fear and panic and seemingly torn between cowering like Weiss and trying to flee. “Calming down is the last thing on my mind right now.”

“Dear, you’re scaring both of them.” The woman chided firmly as Neo carefully edged around the guards to try and reach Weiss.

“Maybe this girl should be scared after what she’s done.” Ghira shot back, though his voice did quieten a little. “Why are you being so forgiving?”

“Ghira, this is Weiss Schnee.” Blinking in surprise, the towering Faunus spun back to look properly at Weiss who tried to surreptitiously wipe away the tears that were forming in her eyes. “She came looking for Blake.”

“Weiss… Schnee…?” He peered down at the trembling girl and recognition sparked in his eyes, which widened almost comically. “Weiss Schnee!?” He opened his mouth, ready to continue, but was interrupted yet again.

“Hey guys, did I miss… anything…?” Sun strolled languidly into the room and came to a sudden halt as he took in the scene. “Hey, Weiss. I see you made it.”

* * *

“I am so so sorry for doing that.” Weiss apologised for the 31st time, still trembling slightly, making her signs somewhat shaky as Neo gently rubbed her shoulder, an affectionate gesture Weiss appreciated maybe a little too much. Once Blake had been freed from her icy prison, she, Weiss, Neo, Sun and her parents had retired to the living room and were now arrayed around a squat table where several cups of tea sat. Both Weiss and Blake had drained several in a matter of seconds, trying to calm their nerves.

“And as I’ve said dear, it’s alright.” Kali replied calmly, pouring out a fresh cup of tea. “You and Blake both panicked and weren’t thinking straight.”

“Ha, nothing straight about these two.” Sun chuckled quietly, earning him a glare from both Blake and Weiss.

“Either way, it was incredibly rude for me to barge into your home like I did and attack your daughter.” Weiss almost missed the subtle glance from Kali to Blake, who squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “I would greatly appreciate it if you would grant me the opportunity to start fresh.” She looked between Ghira and Kali, the former seeming to defer to the latter on this matter, who took a sip of tea as she contemplated the request.

“Perhaps that would be for the best.” She eventually agreed, setting her cup down. “My name is Kali and this is my husband, Ghira, Chieftain of Menagerie.” Weiss nodded somewhat awkwardly, unsure of what the protocol was.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Weiss Schnee, former heiress of the SDC and Blake’s teammate back at Beacon.” Kali inclined her head politely and after a sharp jab from his wife, Ghira did the same.

“It’s nice to meet you Weiss, we’ve heard so much about you from Sun.” Weiss shot the monkey Faunus another glare and he raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Only good things, I swear.” He defended, and Weiss rolled her eyes.

“So how come you’re here, Weiss?” Kali asked, skimming past the potential awkwardness.

“I’m here for Blake.” She said simply, turning to face the younger cat Faunus. “I came to fetch you and bring you back to Patch.” Blake’s eyes widened in shock before narrowing to angry slits.

“And why exactly do you think that’s a good idea?” She hissed angrily.

“Maybe because you abandoned your girlfriend just after she lost her arm!” Weiss didn’t pay attention to the shocked gasps from the table’s occupants. “Maybe, because I’ve had to watch my friend wallow in depression and misery because you were selfish and decided to run away like you always do!”

“It’s not like that, Weiss. You don’t understand.” The rage in Blake’s voice wavered, but Weiss’ remained strong.

“I think I understand perfectly. You’re a coward Blake, Belladonna and now it’s up to me to pick up the pieces of what you’ve wrought.” She spat, sorely tempted to fling herself at Blake, but was held back by Neo’s gentle hand on her arm.

“That’s enough!” Kali stated loudly and firmly, bringing a swift halt to the argument. “There will be no shouting or arguing at my table.”

“Sorry, Mrs Belladonna.” Weiss muttered, embarrassment flushing her face as Blake apologised as well.

“Thank you, we’ll have no more talk of this nasty business for now. Weiss, you haven’t introduced us to your friend.” She gestured at Neo and both she and Weiss froze, before exchanging a nervous glance.

“Yes, who is she, Weiss? She looks kind of familiar.” Sun commented, scrutinising Neo closely as Blake nodded in agreement.

_ ‘What should we tell them?’ _ Weiss signed as surreptitiously as she could to Neo, not noticing Kali’s raised eyebrow. _ ‘I could just introduce you as Ebony or something.’ _

_ ‘No, too risky. And I don’t want to have to wear this illusion all the time we’re here.’ _Neo protested, irritation and anxiety sharpening her movements and making it a little difficult for Weiss to understand.

_ ‘It wouldn’t be for the whole time, just until things have calmed down’ _Weiss tried to reassure her, but Neo was having none of it.

_ ‘No, I won’t lie to these people who have been kind enough to have us as guests. That’s final.’ _Weiss sighed, knowing she was beaten. She’d hoped to make the proper introductions when Blake wasn’t quite as angry at Weiss.

“Have you two finished your conversation?” Kali’s voice cut into Weiss’ thoughts and she started guiltily, looking back at the older woman. “You know it’s rude to have conversations only you can understand at the table.” Both Weiss and Neo blushed deeply at getting called out whilst the others looked on in confusion.

“Sorry, Mrs Belladonna. It’s a slightly complex matter you see.” Weiss said, raising her hands above the table so all could see as they flitted through the signs. “I’d like you to meet my friend, Neopolitan.” Weiss had always found the signs Neo had taught her for introducing her friend to be quite strange. There seemed to be a lot more than usual and she had to move her hands just that little bit faster to keep pace with her words. She didn’t notice the way Kali’s eyebrows raised in surprise, or how her gaze flickered between Weiss and Neo curiously.

“Neopolitan, where have I heard that name before?” Blake asked, and Weiss could see the gears turning in her brain.

“Neo, if you would?” Weiss sighed as Neo hopped to her feet and, with a shimmer, the disguise the multicoloured girl wore flaked away, leaving behind Neo in all her pastel glory.

‘It’s nice to meet you all! 😁 Neopolitan at your service! 😁’ She grinned down at the seated group, Blake’s parents looking quite nonplussed, Weiss shaking her head and cradling it in her hands, and Sun looking bemused, though comprehension was slowly dawning in his eyes. Blake, however, shot to her feet, pointing at the former thief.

“You!” She shrieked, making Weiss and the others wince.

‘Me?’ Neo pointed at herself, and Weiss rolled her eyes, clearly her friend was enjoying every moment of this.

“Blake, you know this girl?” Ghira asked, still looking mildly confused.

“She tried to kill Yang! She’s Roman Torchwick’s right-hand criminal scum!” Weiss winced a little when Blake brought up Torchwick, but to Neo’s credit, she only flinched a little as she stared defiantly up at Blake.

‘Former right-hand criminal scum actually.’ She held up a hand to stop Blake from interrupting as she typed out a new message. ‘And that thing with your girlfriend wasn’t personal, I’ll apologise when I see her.’ Blake blinked a couple of times before turning her anger on Weiss.

“What are you doing with her!?” She shouted, making Weiss recoil a little, before Neo stepped in behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder, a gesture that did not go unappreciated by Weiss nor unnoticed by Kali.

“Well, if you’d stuck around the last few months, you’d know Torchwick died during the Fall.” Weiss needled, looking up at Neo to check how she was holding up.

“Good riddance.” Blake muttered, and Weiss felt Neo’s hand suddenly grip hard on her shoulder. She could feel the tremors running through the multi-coloured girl as she typed out a fresh message.

‘You know nothing about Roman, Belladonna.’ Weiss reached up to hold Neo’s shaking hand to try and calm her friend down, but she wasn’t having it. ‘He was my brother, maybe not by blood but a brother all the same. And now he’s dead.’ Weiss could tell without looking that Neo was trying to hold back tears as Blake took a few guilty steps back.

“I-I have to go.” Before anyone could stop her, Blake’s image blurred out of existence and they heard the slam of a far-off door. Weiss wanted to follow her, scared Blake might disappear for good this time, but she had another slightly more immediate problem of a short girl almost collapsing onto her, not even bothering to hold back her tears now. There was a tense and awkward silence as Neo wept softly into Weiss’ shoulder. Ghira looked like he wanted to be anywhere else other than here and Kali looked torn between concern for the sobbing girl in front of her and anger over her daughter’s callousness. Finally, Sun spoke up.

“Ohhhhh, you were that girl at the White Fang rally!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That went well, although really Weiss how else were you expecting it to go? Still, they've arrived and Kali's already up to her Kali tricks. We're going to see a lot more of Kuo Kuana in later chapters, particularly how I've made a few adjustments so it feels a lot more like a cramped crowded city than the island paradise it often looks like in the show.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being the best.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	14. Chapter 14

Kali had insisted the Neo and Weiss stay in one of their guest rooms which, thankfully for Weiss and her state of mind, had twin beds. After Blake had fled, it had taken Weiss and Neo several minutes to explain to the still quite confused Belladonnas and Sun exactly who Neo was, why she was there and that she had no associations with the White Fang.

Ghira had shown a modicum of concern about a Human staying on Menagerie. Though he himself welcomed the idea, there were Faunus who came to Menagerie specifically to get away from humans who might not take too kindly to Neo’s presence.

Kali for her part had been incredibly sympathetic to Neo’s plight and desire to redeem herself, though the pair had kept exactly what they planned to do to themselves. They’d nodded in acceptance when Weiss informed them that she had no intention of leaving the island without Blake, though Ghira had pointed out that as a Faunus she was more than welcome to stay in Menagerie.

After they’d finished talking, Sun had led them to their room, babbling in his usual rapid-fire way about fighting a giant Sea Dragon Grimm on the voyage. Sun had seemed to have taken a shine to Neo, who seemed to be the only person able to match him in enthusiasm and perkiness. However, the multi-coloured girl seemed quite a bit less animated than usual, and once they were settled in their room and Sun took his leave to track down Blake, Weiss turned to address her companion.

“You doing alright?” She asked tentatively of her Neo who was busy looking out of the large window.

‘_ Sort of?’ _ She signed uncertainly, turning her back to the window to face Weiss, frowning as she did. ‘ _ It never occurred to me people might not be as sympathetic as you are.’ _

“I don’t know why Blake said that. None of us liked Torchwick, but that doesn’t justify what she said to you.”

‘_ In fairness, other than you, no-one really knows how close Roman and I were.’ _Weiss frowned and made a non-committal humming noise.

“She still shouldn’t have said that.” She restated, earning a brief smile from her friend.

‘_ You know, I never asked. Why did you decide to trust me?’ _Neo’s signs were uncertain, hopeful almost as Weiss mulled the question over in her head.

“You mean after the blackmail?” The Faunus smirked a little at the flush that flooded Neo’s face.

‘_ I’m sorry about that, okay? It seemed like a good idea at the time.’ _

“It was the smart thing to do. If you hadn’t, I would almost certainly have left you to rot in that forest.” She shrugged at the callousness of the statement and the brief hurt that crossed Neo’s face. “We’d been fighting your boss and his allies for months, I knew next to nothing about you other than bits of your role in the Fall. You’d have done the same thing if you were me.” Neo raised her hands, ready to launch into a vehement denial but her hands froze and lowered in acceptance of Weiss’ point.

“Then I actually got to know you, see beyond the psychopathic criminal we all thought you were, to the sugar-crazed gremlin you really are.” Neo pouted in annoyance at Weiss’ description of her, her cheeks puffing out in a way Weiss found oddly cute. No! Not cute! Weiss wasn’t supposed to think about Neo like that.

‘_ I have been called worse I suppose...’ _She signed, slightly reluctantly, drawing a huff of laughter from Weiss.

“I don’t doubt it.” She paused for a moment, thinking over her next words. “I trust you because I think you’re a good person. Yes, even after all the unrepentant theft and other crimes.” She preempted the question beginning to form in Neo’s hands. “You know you messed up badly and now you want to fix it. So I think that makes you a pretty good person.” Weiss smiled over at the multi-coloured girl, only to be shocked by the presence of tears in the shorter girl’s eyes.

“Neo? Did I say something wrong?” Weiss began to panic, trying to think what she had said when all the breath was knocked out of her by a flying multi-coloured blur and she was sent flopping back onto the bed.

“Ack! Neo!?” She spluttered, face warming at the sight of Neo’s face squished up against her midriff and the tight embrace the shorter girl had her in. The pressure vanished from one side and Neo’s scroll appeared in her eye line.

‘You’re far too good to me, Weiss.’ Meanwhile Weiss’ mind was stuck in a panicked loop of: Too close! Too close!

“I-It’s nothing really.” She choked out and Neo finally let go to sit up over Weiss.

‘_ There is something I need to talk to you about though’ _She signed as Weiss crawled upright, breathing a sigh of relief that Neo wasn’t touching her any more and sending her into a tizzy of strange and confusing emotions.

“About what?”

‘_ Blake, more specifically how you attacked her. Was that your plan? Because if so, that was _ ** _not_ ** _ okay’ _Weiss flinched at the emphasis Neo put on the ‘not’.

“She ran, Neo. What else was I supposed to do?” Weiss defended weakly and the multi-coloured girl rolled her eyes.

‘_ I don’t know, maybe not freezing her feet to the floor? I barely know the girl, but the way she reacted to her father shouting and fleeing the conflict at the table earlier, I’d wager she’s been abused in the past. In which case, she does not need her best friend assaulting her.’ _It took Weiss a few moments to fully parse Neo’s fast and irritated signs, but when she did a wave of guilt crashed over her. She’d been so wrapped up in her anger and quest for vengeance that she hadn’t thought about Blake and why she might have run away.

“You’re right…” She finally admitted, guilt still gnawing at the sides of her mind. “I can’t tell you about it, but you’re right. I need to apologise.” Weiss made as though to rise from her seat, only to be held back by Neo.

‘_ Maybe leave it a while, let her cool off and for Sun to find her.’ _

“But what if she leaves for good, or gets off the island or something?” Hundreds of thoughts battered her mind and yet again, that infernal buzzing hummed in her ears. She’d just ruined her one chance of reuniting her family and now they would never be repaired. Her spiralling thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sharp flick to the side of her head. “Ow!” She looked indignantly at Neo who shrugged unapologetically.

‘_ You were getting lost in your head.’ _ Weiss didn’t stop scowling, rubbing at the spot where Neo’s neatly manicured finger had struck. _ Try to relax, Weiss. Maybe have a little faith that things will turn out fine. I do.’ _Weiss let out a short bark of laughter.

“You, have faith? Remind me, which one of us said quite firmly that there’s no such thing as the gods?” Neo’s eyebrow raised and Weiss wondered what it was she’d said that so intrigued Neo.

‘_ I remember saying there is no god and this isn’t about that, Weiss. Ever since I ran into you in that forest, my life’s been on something of an upswing. And, call me optimistic, but I reckon it’s going to keep it up.’ _

“You sound just like Ruby.” Weiss grumbled, though a smile tried to fight its way onto her face. “She’s always chipper and optimistic.” The smile gave way to another frown. “I miss her so much. It’s been almost a month since I left, we haven’t been apart for longer than a day since we first met.” As she moped, she found herself wrapped in another panic-inducing hug.

‘You’ll be back with your lady love soon enough, once we’re done here. 😄😄’ There was a pause as Neo shuffled around and an odd frown crossed her face. ‘Weiss? Are you okay? Your heart’s going a mile a minute.’ The white-haired Faunus could have sworn out loud. Why was her body doing this to her?

“It’s normally like that?” She lied weakly and Neo looked up suspiciously, already beginning to type something out. Weiss was saved from having to answer, however, by a soft knock at the door.

“Girls? Dinner will be ready in a minute, would you like me to show you t o a bathroom so you can get cleaned up?” Kali’s voice called through the door and Weiss took advantage of Neo’s distraction to wriggle out of her grip and speed over to the door.

“Yes, please Mrs Belladonna, that would be lovely. Neo? Are you coming?” The shorter girl fixed Weiss with a hard stare and the Faunus tried not to let her face flush, until Neo shrugged and hopped to her feet.

‘_ Sure I’ll co _ _ me.' _

* * *

Dinner was an awkward affair to say the least. Kali and Ghira sat at opposite ends of a table with Neo and Weiss sharing a side whilst Sun and a sulking Blake shared the other. Sun said he’d found her brooding on a rooftop not too far away and had managed to persuade her to come back for dinner. The dinner itself being fairly large bowls of a violently red and orange noodle soup with slices of fish cake and half a boiled egg, garnished with something Kali had called a ‘laksa leaf’.

What Kali hadn’t said was that the food would be quite spicy, leading to her current state of fanning her mouth desperately whilst Sun and Ghira roared with laughter. Kali frantically fetched a glass of milk and apologised profusely as Neo alternated between wheezy laughs and patting Weiss comfortingly on the shoulder, and even Blake was trying to stop a grin from worming on to her face.

“Can’t handle your spice then, Weiss?” Sun managed to choke out, still giggling and sending Neo into even more fits as she tapped out a message on her scroll.

‘Spicy Weissy!! ’ Which in turn sent Sun into even more paroxysms of laughter.

“Yes! That’s it! Spicy Weissy!” He shouted with glee, drawing an angry glare from Weiss as she gratefully chugged the glass of milk she’d been brought.

“Call me ‘Weissy’ again, Sun, and I’ll tie your tail in knots and choke you with a banana.” She threatened, wings flapping in irritation and embarrassment. Thankfully, Kali came to Weiss’ rescue.

“Ghira, Sun. I think you should stop teasing Weiss now. I’m sorry dear, I should have warned you it would be spicy.”

“It’s alright, Mrs Belladonna.” Weiss told her host, picking up her chopsticks and spoon again and thanking the gods she knew how to use them, lest she open herself up to more mockery.

“I can get you something less spicy if you’d like?” Kali offered, ready to take the bowl, but Weiss waved off her concerns and gently trying to push her away.

“No thank you, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it to be quite so spicy.” She reassured the older Faunus, scooping up a large spoonful of soup and noodles and popping it in her mouth. She managed to hide her wince as the spices burned her tongue and tears sprang in her eyes, but she persevered and after a few quick chews, swallowed the mouthful down. It was actually quite tasty, once you got past the heat. Mollified by Weiss’ ability to eat her food without squealing in pain, Kali sat back down and picked up her cutlery again.

“So, how was the voyage?” She asked conversationally, spooning soup over her egg and popping it into her mouth.

“Pretty uneventful, wouldn’t you say Neo?” Weiss asked, probing only a little warily at a strange thin white vegetable she’d never seen before and the shorter girl nodded.

‘Yep, we spent a lot of time in my cabin.’ Kali’s eyebrow raised as Sun spluttered just a little. ‘It was such a long voyage and we had nothing to do, so I taught Weiss a lot more ASL.’ She flashed Weiss an innocent smile, but she wasn’t having it. Neo knew full well how that would be interpreted. Honestly, she was as bad as Yang when it came to teasing.

“Oh, so you’re the one who taught Weiss, are you?” Kali asked smoothly, in between bites. Weiss cocked her head a little, there was an undercurrent of something in her voice, but she couldn’t place it and Neo seemed to be completely oblivious.

‘That’s right, using my scroll’s all well and good but there are times it can be inconvenient and Weiss wanted to learn.’ Neo had fallen behind in eating thanks to her busy hands, and quickly shovelled a large quantity of noodles into her mouth to compensate.

“It didn’t seem fair on Neo to force her to use a form of communication just because I can’t understand her primary method.” Weiss explained, to an approving hum from Ghira.

“Not many people would take the time and effort to do something like that.” He commented, placing his chopsticks and spoon down, having finished whilst listening to the conversation.

‘Oh I’m perfectly happy with talking like this.’ Neo typed out hastily. ‘I don’t like to be an inconvenience to people. Besides, talking like this means I can say things like 😄😄😊’

“You’re not being an inconvenience,” Weiss insisted firmly. “And it’s very unlike you to say something like that. Don’t you remember that time you spent an hour in the bathroom and using up all the hot water in our tank, despite me hammering on the door repeatedly?” Neo looked back blandly.

‘_ I needed to shave and I’m trying to be polite, these people have already been so kind to us. I don’t want them going out of their way to learn a new language just for me’ _

“Oh no need to worry about that dear, I’m already fluent in ASL.” Kali piped up, smirking mysteriously into her noodles.

‘_ Y-You a-are?’ _Neo’s fingers tripped over each other in her surprise.

‘_ Yes, I am.’ _Kali’s fingers moved a little slower than Neo or Weiss’ would, probably from lack of practice. Neo, however, was blushing bright red, and her eyes kept flickering between Weiss and Kali.

“Something wrong, Neo?” Weiss asked curiously.

‘_ Just ate a bit of hot chilli.’ _She signed, drawing a huff of triumphant laughter from Weiss.

“Ha, you’ve lost the right to call me ‘spicy Weissy’ now too.” Neo pouted up at Weiss piteously.

_ ‘Awwww but I like spicy Weissy. I didn’t even know I had that privilege’ _The bird Faunus shook her head.

“Nope, it’s been revoked.” She shot back primly, unaware of the looks she was getting from Kali and Sun.

_ ‘Meanie.’ _Neo fired back, sticking out her tongue for good measure.

“Okay, girls, let’s maybe not have a conversation at the table only half of us can understand?” Kali interrupted before Weiss could come up with a retort.

“Sorry, Mrs Belladonna.” Weiss apologised, feeling appropriately chastised, as Neo clenched her right fist and circled it clockwise over her chest.

“It’s alright girls, but try to keep it in mind next time. I’m sorry to inconvenience you like this Neo.” Blake’s ears pricked up as Neo waved off the apology.

“What do you mean next time, Mom?” She asked suspiciously, the first thing she’d said all meal.

“Weiss and Neo are going to be staying with us for the foreseeable future.” Kali explained patiently, but looked as though she was already bracing herself for the explosion.

“WHAT!?” Blake screeched, nearly shooting to her feet. “Mom, no! They can’t stay here. They are getting on the boat tomorrow morning with Sun and they are leaving!”

“Woah woah woah! Who said anything about _ me _leaving?” Sun protested loudly over Blake’s continuing anger.

“Blake Belladonna, you will calm down right now.” Kali snapped sharply but Blake didn’t back down.

“I’m done here.” She told them all angrily, throwing down her chopsticks and stalking away.

“Blake Belladonna, you come back here right now young… err… lady?” Ghira paused in confusion at the end of his shout, but Weiss was too concerned about Blake to pay it any mind.

“Shall I…?” Sun asked hesitantly but Weiss was already rising from the table.

“I’ll go, if I may be excused?” Kali inclined her head silently. “Thank for the meal, it was delicious.” Weiss strode quickly out of the room, hoping Blake wouldn’t have vanished out of a window. Fortunately, the dark-haired girl’s trail wasn’t hard to follow, doors that had been flung open in rage marked the path that Blake had taken leading out onto a balcony. The now short-haired girl stood, leaning up against the railing and looking out over Kuo Kuana and the myriad of lights that dotted the city.

“Why did you come here, Weiss?” Blake asked without turning around, and Weiss took it as an invitation to join her at the railing.

“I already said, I came to bring you home.”

“I am home already.” Blake pointed out, still not looking at the bird Faunus.

“This may be where your parents live, but we both know your home is with Ruby and Yang much as it is mine.” The pair fell silent for a minute, then:

“You’re the one who asked Sun to find and follow me, aren’t you?”

“I am.” Weiss leaned back against the railing, letting her wings trail over it and looking up at the stars, brighter than she’d ever seen them and oh so many.

“Why not come yourself?”

“What is this, twenty questions?” Weiss tried to tease softly, but got no response. “I couldn’t leave Ruby as she was. She was in a coma for two months, Blake, and she only woke up about a month ago.” Weiss sighed deeply, letting her head droop and look away from the pinpricks of light. “I left her less than a week after she woke up.”

“What you’re trying to do, Weiss, It won’t work. Some things aren’t meant to be fixed.”

“Bullshit. You can’t know that until you’ve tried, and you just ran away without even doing that. Were you that disgusted by Yang’s arm that you decided running was better than just talking to her?”

“It’s not like that!” Blake shouted, disturbing a few birds that we settling down to roost.

“What else could it be? Tell me. What made you leave her, leave us?” Weiss turned to look at Blake, eye pleading as she willed her friend to answer.

“I-I can’t, I can’t tell you.” The dark-haired girl finally choked out, tears spilling from her eyes.

“Blake, please. Stop running from us.” There was no further answer, so Weiss continued. “You know Neo and I aren’t leaving here until you’re coming with us, right?” A small nod of agreement. “And you’re not leaving at all?” Another nod. “Then we’re at an impasse.”

“So it would seem.” Came the reply followed by more silence.

“Whilst we’re here I’d like it if we could try to be friends again, Blake. No more shouting at meals, no more attacking each other or insulting each other’s friends.” Blake snorted dryly but Weiss persisted. “Do you think we can try?”

“I suppose that would be nice…” Blake finally answered, and received a gentle hug from Weiss, who wrapped them both in her wings’ embrace.

“I missed you so much.” She murmured softly into her friend’s ear, not bothering to stop the tears welling up in her eyes.

“I missed you too.” Blake replied, and Weiss could feel and accompanying wetness on her own shoulder.

“I’m sorry for freezing you to the floor earlier.” Weiss apologised, mumbling into the cat Faunus’ shoulder.

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t have run like I did.” She responded as they slowly broke apart, Weiss’ wings fluttering to loosen up from the embrace. They stood in an awkward silence for a minute, before Blake spoke, hand rubbing at her upper arm. “I-I have something to tell you.”

“O-kay…?” Weiss answered hesitantly, wondering just where Blake was going with this.

“I’mnonbinary.” The words came out in a rush and Weiss thought for a moment Blake had been possessed by Ruby.

“Sorry, come again?” She asked, cocking her head to hear better as Blake took a deep calming breath.

“I-I’m nonbinary, Weiss. I use they/them pronouns now.” The dark-haired Faunus shuffled their feet nervously for a few moments as Weiss processed this.

“Is that why you cut your hair?”

“What?”

“The nonbinary thing, is that why you cut your hair. Because I have to say, it does suit you.” There was a momentary pause, then Blake burst out laughing.

“My hair! That’s the first thing you ask about?”

“It seemed the most obvious…” Weiss blushed, looking away.

“I suppose it is kind of.” The cat Faunus brushed a few tears of laughter from their eyes. “But no, I… Wanted a change from my old hairstyle. I liked it well enough and I might go back. But for now, it feels like a new beginning.”

“Yes, well, in case it wasn’t apparent, you have my full support, Blake.” The bird Faunus smiled warmly at her friend whose chuckles had finally died down.

“Thank you, Weiss. I could tell you more tomorrow, over drinks perhaps? I could show you around Kuo Kuana, and there’s this nice café out by the Shallow Sea I think you’d like.” Weiss hummed for a moment before snapping her fingers.

“One condition, Neo comes with us.” Blake groaned in annoyance, but Weiss ploughed on. “Blake, she’s my friend and I’d like it if you got along. Besides, you still haven’t apologised to her for what you said about Roman.” The dark-haired Faunus rolled their eyes but grunted in begrudging approval of the plan.

“Fine, I’ll apologise and try to get to know your _ friend _.”

“Thank you, Blake. I’m going to turn in and make sure Neo doesn’t wreck anything in search of ice cream or something. Good night.” There was a quiet reply of ‘Good night’ as Weiss re-entered the house, feeling just that little bit lighter. Today may not have gone quite as planned, but it was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, you thought the non-binary character tag was for Hong, but it was actually for Blake as well! In all seriousness though, this development has been months in the making and it's been hard to keep it secret. People work themselves out at different times, and Blake ain't gonna be the last in this fic either. Anyway, I'm seriously looking forward to the next chapter where you get a better look at my version of Menagerie and I hope I do it justice. And one last thing, laksa does taste pretty good.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading, even if her assessment of my supposed cuteness is wrong.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	15. Chapter 15

Weiss awoke early to Neo stretched out in a warrior pose. Thankfully the pastel girl was far more clothed than the last time Weiss had awoken to her doing yoga.

“Mmph, mornin’.” She yawned, scratching sleepily at her ear whilst Neo acknowledged the greeting with a small wave. Rolling out of bed, Weiss slowly collected her shower things and a change of clothes. “You still up for going out with Blake today?”

‘ _ Of course, it’ll be fun!’  _ Neo broke from her pose momentarily to sign before returning to her routine. Satisfied, Weiss left the room and made her way down the hall to the bathroom the pair of them shared with Sun and Blake. Finding it mercifully free, Weiss stepped into the tiled room and set her items on the small caddy attached to the wall. That done, she now turned her attention to the curious set up of the room. Instead of a bath or cubicle there was a drain set in a far corner with the shower set above it.

Shrugging, Weiss divested herself of her nightgown and turned on the shower. She was immediately struck by how warm the water was. She’d been used to the ones at Beacon, which took several minutes to reach an appropriate heat. Sighing in contentment, Weiss stepped fully under the water and enjoyed how it washed away the uncomfortable stickiness that came with being in the tropics.

Clean once again, Weiss turned off the water and wrapped herself up in one of the towels Kali had thoughtfully provided. It was certainly a lot nicer than the compact one she’d been carrying with her on the journey. Once satisfactorily dry and clothed, the towel now wrapped around her hair, Weiss emerged from the bathroom and almost collided with a shirtless Sun.

“Whoa, sorry Weiss!” He exclaimed, dodging neatly back as did Weiss, flapping her wings to keep her balance.

“No, no. My fault, I should have been paying attention.” She said, taking the opportunity to get a good look at Sun after not seeing him for several months. He looked good, perhaps a little less built than before, probably not having much time for a standard hunter workout. Weiss certainly hadn’t been able to, and Neo’s yoga routines could only do so much. But it looked like the climate agreed with him and his tan had darkened quite considerably after the relatively temperate climes, though Weiss noticed two pink scars running horizontally across his chest, standing out against his now darker skin.

“Uhhhh, Weiss? You in there?” Sun jolted Weiss out of her thoughts with a tap on her shoulder and making the white-haired Faunus blush.

“Yes, sorry, lost in thought.”

“Hey, no need to be embarrassed. Lots of girls get lost in thought when around these bad boys.” Sun smirked, pointing down at his abs. Weiss just rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“You wish, Sun.” She snorted, walking past him to head back to her room. “Maybe if you were a girl, you’d have a chance!”

“Ahaha, yeah. What a dumb idea. Me, a girl!” Sun laughed nervously before almost running into the bathroom and quickly shutting the door behind him, leaving Weiss looking on in bemusement. After a moment, she shrugged and continued on her way. Neo was just finishing up her routine as Weiss walked in, giving the Faunus an unimpeded view of Neo’s rear as she folded herself in half to touch her toes.

“Must you do your yoga right there? Anyone could just walk in on you.” Weiss tried to sound disapproving whilst she tried to suppress a deep blush. As it turned out, the form fitting yoga clothes Neo had picked up back in Dolmen were almost as bad as her underwear for Weiss’ cardiac health. Neo rose out of her pose and flashed a cheeky grin back at Weiss.

‘ _ So? Am I doing something I shouldn’t?’  _ Weiss opened her mouth to respond, but then shut it again when none came that avoided admission of the fact she was more than a little attracted to Neo, which would completely ruin their friendship.

“Well, if you intend to take a shower, which I highly advise, you might want to leave it for a bit, Sun’s in the bathroom right now.” Neo nodded in acknowledgement and flopped back on her bed, mopping at her brow with a towel.

‘ _ Any idea what Blake’s got planned other that giving us a tour of the city?’ _

“They mentioned something about a café I might like.”

‘ _ Maybe there’ll be ice cream!’  _ Neo signed excitedly, pulling herself up and nearly vibrating with excitement at the prospect of her favourite food.

“Maybe.” Weiss shrugged. Really, the café and tour were secondary to getting back to where she and Blake were before everything that happened at Beacon, not to mention getting them to accept Neo’s presence as Weiss’ friend. There was a soft knock at the door, drawing the attention of the pair.

“Weiss?” Blake’s voice came through the door. “Can I come in?”

“Yes, of course.” Weiss called back and the door opened to reveal the cat Faunus standing nervously in the hallway.

“Good morning, Weiss, Neopolitan.” Weiss chose not to call them out for the cold tone they used when addressing Neo, and neither did the girl in question, who only inclined her head politely and extending her right hand, thumb up, before bringing it back to her left then right shoulder. Blake cocked their head questioningly, so Weiss took it upon herself to translate.

“She said good morning.” She explained, hand following the path Neo’s had taken as she did so.

“I see…” Again, Weiss let Blake’s tone go unquestioned. “Well, we can head out whenever you’re both ready. Also, do you mind if Sun tags along? I’d leave him here, but I’m afraid he’ll get underfoot. Dad doesn’t like him very much.”

“I don’t mind, Neo?” Weiss turned to the multi-coloured girl, who tapped out a message for Blake’s benefit.

‘Sure, I like him! 😁😁’

“I’ll tell him, we’ll wait for you in the entrance hall, okay?” The two girls nodded in agreement and Blake retreated, closing the door behind them.

‘ _ I don’t think they like me.’  _ Neo signed, looking a little disheartened.

“They will, just give them time. I like you after all. Though sometimes I do question why.” Weiss’ glib remark was answered with a sweaty towel to the face and wheezy laughter. Business as usual.

* * *

Cloak pinned in place and hood up, Weiss led the way through the corridors to the entrance, Neo trotting along behind her. As they entered the room, they saw Sun kick off the pillar he’d been leaned up against to greet them.

“Hey Neo, Weiss.” He smiled at the pair.

“Hi Sun, good to see you in a few more clothes.” Weiss quipped, earning a couple of odd looks from Neo and Blake.

“I wasn’t wearing my shirt, that’s all!” The blonde protested quickly which drew a soft chuckle from Blake.

“Better not let dad catch you wandering around like that, he already doesn’t like the way you dress.”

“Look, top surgery cost a pretty lien and I’m getting my money’s worth.” Sun protested and Weiss cocked her head in confusion. Sun had had surgery? That would explain the scars she saw earlier, but why were they there and what did that have to do with Sun not wearing a… shirt…

Oh.

Now Weiss felt kind of terrible for her words just outside the bathroom and she definitely owed Sun an apology and maybe a drink or something.

“Mom! We’re just heading out, and we’ll eat out, so need to wait for us at lunch, okay?” There was a faint answer from somewhere in the house that Blake evidently heard because they nodded and opened the door, gesturing for the others to follow. The four descended the steps onto the dusty road and out into the blinding sunlight. Weiss pulled up her hood and Neo put up her parasol, drawing laughter from Sun.

“Can handle a little sun, girls?” He grinned smugly at the pair, stretching out luxuriously.

“Yes, well some of us didn’t have the privilege of being born in a desert.” Weiss shot back, Neo nodding along in agreement. “I’d like to see you cope out in the tundra of Solitas.”

“Ehhh, Nah. Vale was cold enough as it is, I could not deal with Solitas.” Sun admitted, still grinning as they made their way up the crowded main road into Kuo Kuana proper.

“Besides, I’d prefer if people didn’t recognise me.”

“Why not, you’re Faunus, one of us. Surely it doesn’t matter?” Sun asked, scratching his head in confusion.

“It matters because Jacques Schnee failed to disinherit me before The Fall.” Weiss told the group, looking around warily, but the crush of people was making too much noise for them to be casually overheard.

“He what?” Blake asked, eyes agog.

“Atlas law makes it difficult to disinherit people, for whatever reason. Probably the elite’s obsession with bloodlines. Point is, as far as the White Fang were aware, I never cut ties with the SDC, and now there’s a bounty on my head. Or so Neo tells me.” The other two looked to Neo for confirmation and the shorter girl nodded reluctantly, fishing out her scroll and flicking through until she found the announcement and handed the device to Sun.

‘ _ It came out just after communications were re-established across Vale.’  _ She signed to Weiss, who translated for the other two’s benefit as they read the announcement.

“Dead or alive?” Sun read aloud, his tone incredulous. Blake, however, looked horrified a hand coming up to cover their mouth.

“This can’t be right. Where did this come from?” She asked Neo.

‘ _ Vale, it had to be since I think it was only broadcast there.’  _ She signed to Weiss, looking a little confused.

“Adam.” Weiss barely heard Blake’s whisper, almost lost amongst the noise of the crowd flowing around them. “You need to leave.” Their voice louder again and an edge of panic cutting in.

“Wait, what?”

“Weiss, you aren’t safe here.”

“Why?”

“There’s a White Fang cell on Menagerie.” Weiss’ blood froze. White Fang active in Menagerie. Her eyes flickered around, as though expecting the entire crowd to don Grimm masks and set upon her. Not wanting to be recognised had been a matter of practicality and ease of life. Now that it was a matter of survival, she pulled the cloak tighter around herself and tucking her wings away. She hadn’t actually seen any other avian Faunus around, despite the masses of people, and she wondered if they were indeed so rare that she could be recognised just from that.

“Woah, woah, woah. We just met those guys a few days ago and they seemed alright. They said the Fang had cut ties with Adam’s faction.” Sun butted in, trying to reassure the panicking pair, but Blake was unmoved.

“You can’t just take what people say at face value, Sun.” They turned back to Weiss. “Even if they don’t know about the bounty, still being heiress means you’re not safe here. We are going back to the house to get your things and getting then we are you and Neopolitan on the boat away from here.” Weiss stiffened. Despite her fear, she had come here with one reason in mind.

“And will you be on that boat with us?” She asked shrewdly.

“What? Why would I?” Blake blinked a few times in surprise.

“I told you, we weren’t leaving without you.” Weiss stated, jaw set firmly as she glared up at her friend. The cat Faunus opened their mouth to argue further, but Neo’s scroll appeared in their field of view.

‘This is all academic, the ship left earlier this morning. We’re stuck here for another few weeks. 😁’ Upon reading the message, Blake deflated and was patted reassuringly on the shoulder by Sun.

“I guess there’s nothing we can do about it for now except make sure Weiss remains hidden. So… Shall we continue the tour?” The dark-haired Faunus did not look pleased with this, but nodded reluctantly and continued to lead the way to the main market square.

More than once someone would bump into Weiss as they walked and each time she couldn’t help but check whether her scroll and wallet were still in her pocket. It felt offensive really to keep doing so, but seeing the general state of the place, she was fairly certain she might be the richest person on the island even with her being disinherited.

“Why is it all so crowded?” She asked, staring up at a small block of buildings a few storeys high with rickety stairs running up the outside to the upper floors.

“Over half the island is uninhabitable.” Sun told her, slowing his pace to walk beside her and Neo. “And it turns out there are a lot more Faunus than people really think, sooo it gets a little cramped.”

“It’s not uncommon to find three generations of a family living in the same house.” Blake mentioned, looking back at the other three. “Them and their cousins, and their cousin’s cousins, twenty or more people all crammed into a few rooms. There just isn’t enough space on the island, and even if there were it’s not like people can really afford anything better.” Weiss blinked a few times in shock. She’d thought her few months living with Taiyang had given her a fairly good understanding of what it was like to live, if not in poverty, in a way that was far below any standards the Schnees would consider acceptable. But to hear about entire families sharing so little space, it made her feel a little ill at just how lucky she’d been in some regards.

“And your parents’ house?”

“Dad doesn’t like it much either. Menagerie used to have a Human governor, back when the settlement was first founded and Menagerie was ‘gifted’ to the Faunus. After the revolution the governor got kicked out and we kept it as the chieftain’s house.” Blake explained, turning to face the others and skilfully walking backwards through the crowd.

“I can certainly understand why he wouldn’t want to live in such a comparatively luxurious abode.” Blake hummed in agreement as they finally entered the main market place. Much like yesterday, there were a great many stalls set up in haphazard rows, with their owners calling out to passersby about how good their wares were.

“As you might have guessed, this is the main market place. There are a few others throughout the city, but if you need anything whilst you’re here you can almost certainly find it here.” Blake explained as they made their way around the perimeter of the square. “The wet market’s closer to the Shallow Sea.”

“That’s where you said this café is, right?” Blake nodded in confirmation and pointed down the hill towards the ocean and a collection of ramshackle buildings which, upon closer inspection, Weiss realised were on stilts and in the water itself.

“The Shallow Sea. Life can be particularly hard for aquatic Faunus, especially if they don’t have legs. You won’t find many outside of Kuo Kuana and the Shallow Sea. It’s also where all the best food hawkers are.”

‘I thought you’d only been here a few days?’ Neo’s scroll popped up and it looked like Blake was debating talking directly to the pastel girl.

“Mom showed me around the day after we got here. Things have changed a lot since I was last here with Māmā.” Neo accepted this easily with a nod and happily continued to follow Blake as they left the busy marketplace behind. As they approached the Shallow Sea the houses looked increasingly worse for wear, in comparison to somewhat nicer houses on the main thoroughfare.

“The Shallow Sea and surrounding districts were among the first built. It was a great source of fish, but there just hasn’t been much development in the area, despite Dad’s efforts.” Blake answered Weiss’ unasked question as they weaved their way down the hill and then out onto the docks. Weiss felt distinctly uneasy about them, the wood creaked with every step and the rope bridges connecting various platforms did not look particularly safe.

Neo, on the other hand, looked positively fascinated by the whole thing, gazing avidly at the ramshackle buildings and stalls set up in the sea where several aquatic Faunus swam.

‘I said before that I could see the Mistral influences in the architecture, but this is totally different! No other kingdom has any construction like this. It’s brilliant! 😁😁’ Neo’s grin was almost as wide as her little icons and Weiss rolled her eyes fondly, before clamping down on the warmth suffusing her heart.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” She commented dryly, to which Neo nodded fervently.

‘Exploring an island paradise with my best friend, why wouldn’t I be enjoying myself? 😊😊’ The white-haired Faunus tried not to blush at being referred to as Neo’s best friend, though it did strengthen her resolve to maintain a strictly platonic relationship with the pastel hellion. Her mind, however, stuck on Neo’s description of Menagerie

“Weren’t you listening when Blake was telling us about the overcrowding and rampant poverty?” She asked, thoroughly confused. “Why would you call this an island paradise?”

‘Yeah, I heard. But look at this place. People have made a home here despite how terribly society has treated them and I think that’s pretty neat.’

“Ever the optimist.” Weiss commented, shaking her head in exasperated amusement.

‘I told you last night, I just have faith. 😁😁’ With that, she skipped along to catch up with Blake and Sun. They continued along the water’s edge for a little while longer before walking out onto the bridges and platforms until they reached one of the more stable looking buildings with an awning, which sheltered a collection of mismatched chairs and tables.

“Here we are, the best place for char kway teow on Remnant. They do some good desserts too.” Blake announced, walking under the awning and into the relative cool of the shade. “Ember, you in here?” They called out. There was a bustling commotion in the back and a dog-eared Faunus stuck his head out the back.

“Blake! Back so soon?” He called back, emerging fully from the back and coming over to greet them.

“Just showing a friend around the island.” Sun raised an eyebrow at Blake’s obvious exclusion of Neo from the descriptor, but they kept going. “Ember, this is…” They paused, clearly hesitant to let slip who Weiss was, even to someone she was friendly with.

“Ivory, Ivory Ice.” Weiss’ hands moved confidently, and it occurred to her that she was more familiar with introducing herself as Ivory than as Weiss. “This is my friend, Neo.” She inclined her head to the shorter girl, who waved cheerfully.

“Well, any friend of Blake’s is welcome here. You lot here for breakfast?”

“Please.” Blake told them and settled down in a chair. “You know what I want.”

“Sure, sure.” Ember waved them off, heading back to the kitchen. “Why don’t you three check out the menu.” They gestured up at several hand-written signs over the counter with various foods Weiss didn’t recognise and their prices.

“I don’t know any of these.” She finally admitted, flushing in embarrassment.

“New to Menagerie, aren’t ya? You’ll get used to the place soon enough. In the meantime I do make a mean mee goreng, if you’d like that? It’s noodles in a spicy sauce with prawns and other seafood.”

“If you could make it not so spicy please?” Ember just chuckled and nodded, turning his attention to Sun, who asked to have whatever Blake was having, and finally turned his attention to Neo, who was studying the dessert board with a frown of concentration.

“And you, miss?” Neo pulled out her scroll and tapped out a quick message Weiss could just make out.

‘Do you not have any ice cream?’

“Sorry, no ice cream here. Got some good ice kachang though. But if you’re looking for ice cream, you’d be hard pressed to find any in Kuo Kuana.” The look on Neo’s face would be funny if it weren’t so heart broken.

‘No ice cream at all? 😢’ The shorter girl asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Nope, sorry.” There was a pause and for a brief moment Weiss was terrified Neo would launch herself at the poor man for the crime of not serving ice cream. Instead, Neo threw herself at Weiss, burying her face in Weiss’ midriff, and she could feel the multi-coloured girls tears leaking through her shirt.

‘😭😭😭😭Weeeeeeisssss, I wanna go home and get ice cream! 😭😭😭😭’ Weiss sighed in embarrassment as Blake, Sun and Ember all stared at the pair.

“She really likes ice cream.” Was all Weiss could say as an explanation, arms pinned to her sides by Neo’s crushing hug.

“Hey, I might have seen someone selling ice cream out of a cart on the way here.” Sun chipped in. All at once the pressure vanished from around Weiss and Neo was bouncing excitedly in front of Sun.

‘Did you? Can you show me please? 😢’ And before he could answer, Neo grabbed him by the wrist and hauled him out of the building and away. Weiss sighed heavily, shaking her head and sitting down at the table Blake had claimed, whilst Ember shrugged and headed back into the kitchen.

“She’s quite a character.” Weiss could only nod in resigned agreement at the cat Faunus’ words. “She reminds me of Ruby a little.” Weiss could not quite pin down what it was in Blake’s tone, but she did not like it.

“I suppose if all you’re looking at is the excessive energy and love of sweets.” She admitted, fiddling with an errant strand of hair. “She has her own quirks though.”

“If you call being a criminal a quirk.” Blake muttered and Weiss glared at them. “How did you even meet up with her, Weiss?”

“She...” Weiss tried to think of the most diplomatic way to put her first meeting with Neo. “She was part of a group of bandits who attacked the caravan I was travelling with.” She finally told the dark-haired Faunus, who, if they’d been taking a drink, would have performed an impressive spit take at the information.

“She what?!”

“And then she kinda blackmailed me into telling them she’s my friend so she wouldn’t be stuck in the woods any more.” Weiss ploughed on, choosing to ignore Blake’s pointless question.

“And now she’s your friend?!” Okay, now that she was saying it out loud it did sound rather ridiculous, but it wasn’t like Weiss could tell Blake exactly how she and Neo had bonded over their mutual goal of executing Cinder and her associates for their crimes. “Weiss, she tried to kill Yang, she was Roman Torchwick’s right hand and helped cause The Fall.”

“You think I don’t know that, Blake? You think it didn’t take me a while to look past the fact that she tried to kill Ruby up on that airship or any of the other things she’s done? I am very aware of Neo’s past, and now she’s trying to make up for what she’s done.”

“And I’m sure she’s doing it out of a sense of remorse and definitely not for any ulterior motives.” Weiss scowled at the suspicion in Blake’s tone, though she wasn’t entirely sure why sure took such umbrage at it.

“Funny, I seem to recall about this time a year ago making friends with another ex-criminal.” It was a low blow, but frankly, Weiss was tired of Blake’s obstinacy with regards to dealing with Yang, not telling her what exactly was wrong, and now with their dislike of Neo.

“That’s different.”

“Yes, it is. But how is wanting to see the good in someone a bad thing?” Blake looked as though they were struggling to come up with a good rebuttal but none came.

“Fine, you’re right. I guess I’ve been unfair to her.”

“In fairness, I wasn’t exactly trusting of her when we met for the first time either. She grows on you, though.” She looking over her shoulder out over the water at the bouncing pastel girl and her slightly unwilling partner who looked to be buying her a massive slab of ice cream from a cart.

“Does she now?” For the first time all morning, there was a touch of humour to Blake’s voice and Weiss turned back to face them, eyebrow raised.

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” She asked suspiciously.

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

“I see. Well before the bundles of energy we call friends return, I believe part of why we came out today was for you to explain a bit more about your, well, coming out.” They both chuckled softly at Weiss’ unintentional wordplay.

“Well, speaking of bundles of energy, it was Sun who helped me come to grips with it. I never really felt dysphoric or anything, nothing about being called a girl felt wrong. Sun kind of helped me understand that I didn’t need to be uncomfortable, and should instead think about what made me feel more comfortable. If that makes sense?” They looked nervously around the room, not quite meeting Weiss gaze.

“Is it like gender euphoria?” Weiss asked tentatively, remembering some of the things Ruby had talked about in the few quiet moments they had together.

“I guess? I’m certainly a lot happier now. I think I’ve always felt like this, but what with Adam…” Blake went silent, hands rubbing together anxiously. “And then pretty much jumping into a relationship with Yang, I kind of ended up defining myself as someone’s girlfriend and not really working out who I am.”

“Do you regret being Yang’s… Is it wrong to call you her girlfriend since you’re non-binary now?”

“Girlfriend is fine, I was her girlfriend at the time. And no, no I don’t, being with Yang was the happiest few months of my life in years. But I haven’t been single since I was fourteen, except for the few months between leaving the Fang and New Year’s. And I never felt like I was Blake during any of that time.” They explained, now nervously picking at their nails. “Being single has been good for me.”

“So that’s it, you and Yang are over.” Weiss meant to phrase it as a question, but after everything Blake had said, it ended up as a statement.

“After I left her the way I did, of course we are.” The white-haired Faunus thought she heard a hint of melancholy and sadness in the dark-haired Faunus’ tone.

“I’m sure if you would just explain why you left, she’d forgive you.” Weiss tried but Blake cut her off.

“I told you before Weiss, sometimes relationships don’t work out, and you should focus more on your own than other people’s. Aren’t you neglecting Ruby by coming out here to try and fix mine and Yang’s relationship?”

“Actually, I came out here because we all need you, Blake. Yang might need you more, but we aren’t Team RWBY without you.” Weiss insisted and Blake looked away guiltily. Fortunately for them, they were saved from answering by a whirlwind of pink, brown and white throwing itself into the chair beside Weiss and thrusting a scroll in her face.

‘Weiss! They serve ice cream in bread! 😄😄’ Neo was giddy with excitement, sweet treat held firmly in her hand as Sun came up, panting heavily as he dropped into his own chair.

“Truly, you have found the eighth wonder of the world.” Weiss snarked, earning a scowl from Neo as the Faunus pulled out some lien and tossed it to Sun.

“I don’t know how you handle her, Weiss.” He moaned, not questioning the money and stuffing it in his pocket whilst Weiss just shrugged.

“I guess I just have a knack for it.” Their food came out shortly after and, as they all started eating, Weiss thought back on how she seemed no closer to persuading Blake to return, but at least she had a better understanding of the cat Faunus now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at them being kids and stuff, this one took quite a while to put together because there's just so much stuff about Menagerie I wanted to include, not to mention the four interacting with one another. Also a bit more detail to Blake and their self-perception.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and helping me through my writer's block.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	16. Chapter 16

“Hey, Weiss. You got a sec?” Weiss paused in the middle of a practice swipe with Penny Dreadful and looked over at Sun, who was leaning over the upper balcony. Ghira had been kind enough to give Weiss free reign of the back of the house to practice. She was a little rusty after the weeks at sea and was running through her routines whilst Neo watched from the shadows by the wall.

“What is it, Sun?” She called up, sheathing her weapon.

“Kali asked me to ask you whether you could give her a hand with dinner.”

“Is she sure? I can’t cook very much or very well.”

“Yeah, I told her that as well. But she said that you could learn something then.” He smirked down at the irritated bird Faunus.

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence in my cooking talents.” She snarked back and received a cheery thumbs up in return. “Can you tell her Neo and I will be there in a sec once I’ve cleaned up?”

“Actually, that’s the other thing. She only wants you, not Neo. She was very specific about that.” Weiss exchanged a confused glance with Neo, who shrugged from her shadowy seat.

“Any idea why?” Sun in turn just shrugged.

“Nope, sorry.”

“Right, well, tell her I’ll be there in a few minutes.” The monkey Faunus nodded in agreement and vanished inside as Weiss walked over to Neo and gratefully received a towel from the pastel girl.

“Thanks, it is far too hot to be training like this.” She complained, mopping the sweat off her.

‘_ You could always ditch the cloak, I know it keeps the sun off you. But I found this in the market.’ _Neo reached into a pocket of her slightly battered coat and pulled out a small tube, passing it to Weiss.

“SPF 1000 broad spectrum sun protection. ‘For pasty pale Atlesians with no sense of humour’.” She looked balefully at Neo, who whistled innocently as Weiss read out the clearly fake tag line. “You know you’re just as pasty pale and Atlesian as I am, right?”

‘_ Yet I don’t see you denying the sense of humour thing.’ _Neo signed smugly, having to break off from what she was going to say next to catch the tube as Weiss tossed it back to her.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” She deadpanned as Neo stuffed the sunscreen back in her pocket.

‘_ Aw, come on, you were the one complaining about it being too hot. Now you can go without the cloak and not be worried about burns.’ _

“I’ll think about it.” Weiss replied eventually, passing the towel back as well and making her way over to the back door. It was actually quite a good idea on Neo’s part and, in Weiss’ mind at least, proved just how good of a friend she was. She supposed she should be more suspicious of people after what had happened with Emerald and the others, but Neo had been nothing but honest with her, and she’d rather be betrayed a hundred times than turn away someone who wanted to change for the better even once.

Weiss made a quick stop at hers and Neo’s room to drop off her cloak and weapons, then by the bathroom to freshen up a little before heading to the kitchen. As she approached, she heard a soft voice emanating from the open door of the kitchen, singing a song she did not recognise, though she could tell it was being sung in Mistralian. Of all the kingdoms’ former languages, Mistralian was the only one still widely spoken and not condemned to the realms of scholars and historians, though this was the first time Weiss had heard someone singing it. As she entered, she wasn’t entirely surprised to see it was Kali singing as she chopped vegetables.

“Mrs Belladonna? You wanted my help?” She asked tentatively, almost afraid to keep the woman from her song.

“Oh? Weiss. Yes I did, thank you. If you could just wash up, dear, then we can get started.” She nodded her head to the sink.

“I washed up before I came.” Weiss protested, rolling up her left sleeve to match the right in preparation.

“I’m sure you did dear, but if you wouldn’t mind for my own peace of mind. You won’t believe how many times I’ve had Ghira come in here after he’s been busy helping with construction or something and start stealing food with his dirty hands.” The older woman huffed in resigned amusement as Weiss acquiesced to her request and scrubbed her hands thoroughly.

“What do you need me to do?” She asked, once her hands were clean and dry.

“If you could take this knife and keep chopping these vegetables.” Kali said, passing over the knife and moving to the stove where something was simmering. “I hate to ask you to help me like this, dear, since you are a guest, but since I didn’t have much time yesterday to make a full welcome dinner I decided we could have it today. I’d get Blake to help, but I can’t find them anywhere, and sadly Ghira is not the best cook around.”

“It’s no trouble at all, really, Mrs Belladonna.” Weiss assured the cat Faunus as she carefully sliced the leafy green vegetable. “I’m glad to help, and it’s good practice besides.”

“Oh?”

“Before a few months ago, I’d never cooked before. Whilst I was staying at Taiyang Xiao Long’s place he started to teach me, but I let it slip during the last month of travelling.” Weiss explained, enjoying the neat precision of her cuts, separating the leafy greens from their white stems.

“Taiyang…? That’s Yang’s father yes?” Kali asked, now taking a second knife and cutting some meat into strips.

“Yes, that’s right. Hers and Ruby’s.”

“Ah, yes. Sun mentioned they were sisters and that Ruby was your partner.” Weiss hesitated for a fraction of a second, before she remembered it wasn’t exactly something she was keeping secret.

“More than that actually.” Kali raised an eyebrow as Weiss raised her left hand to show off the ring that sat there. “I guess betrothed is probably the closest word to describe our relationship.”

“Oh.” Weiss cocked her head at the surprise in Kali’s voice. “Sun never mentioned you were together romantically.”

“We were keeping it a secret, at least until Jacques Schnee disinherited me. And we only exchanged the rings a month ago.” Kali hummed as she scooped up the meat she’d chopped and deposited it in a wok sat heating on the stove.

“I remember when Ghira proposed to me, we’d only been seeing each other for a few months and it had taken him so many favours to get a ring he thought was good enough. But it was perfect in every way.” Though the cat Faunus was facing away from her, Weiss could hear the soft smile in Kali’s voice, even over the sizzle of the meat cooking away. “But I’ve gotten off-track. I must admit I did have ulterior motives to asking you here besides your cooking abilities.” Weiss thought as much, but waited for Kali to continue.

“I wanted to ask you about Blake.” She indicated to Weiss to take over frying the meat which she did whilst Kali fetched more ingredients. “I hadn’t seen them since they were twelve, I missed out so much of my child growing up, and Sun, bless him, can only tell me so much. But you were their best friend at Beacon.” Weiss wasn’t sure what to say, and she could feel herself choking up a little. She usually referred to Blake as her best friend, but it was completely different to be thought of as Blake’s.

“You okay, Weiss?” Kali asked in concern and Weiss noticed she’d stopped stirring. Frantically she scraped at the wok to loosen the few pieces of meat that had stuck to the metal.

“I’m fine, sorry. I’m just not sure where to start.” Kali nodded in understanding as she tossed some of the greens Weiss had chopped into the wok. “Blake and I… we didn’t get along at the start. As far as they were aware I was just a spoiled Schnee brat, and I was dealing with a lot of issues regarding my heritage. Not that that excuses my behaviour at the time.”

“Yes, Sun did mention that the first time you two met in passing that you called him a ‘dirty lowlife’?” There was a hint of amusement in the older woman’s tone that reassured Weiss that her past indiscretions wouldn’t be held against her.

“Yes, well. Living in close proximity to Jacques Schnee taught me more than a few prejudices.”

“I can certainly imagine it would.”

“Even after everything I said and did Blake was still willing to be my friend. They said they saw the better person I wanted to be. They were so supportive of me all through Beacon. It took a while to unlearn what Jacques Schnee taught me, and Blake was there to help whenever I needed it.” Kali hummed in happy agreement, adding various sauces and liquids to the wok, only some of which Weiss recognised.

“That’s my Blake, always willing to help. Whenever Ghira was having trouble with one of his speeches, she’d always bring him a pot of tea and sit with him whilst he finished.” The bird Faunus chuckled a little at the idea of a tiny Blake sat beside their giant of a father.

“Mhmm, Blake was so happy at Beacon, they didn’t tell me much about their time with the Fang after you left. But I got the distinct impression it was not a happy time.” Kali’s smile dimmed a little.

“Yes, I got that impression as well. But they’ve refused to tell me anything about what happened.” Weiss raised an eyebrow at this, did that mean Blake hadn’t told their parents about their relationship with Adam? Weiss briefly considered asking about the man in passing, but it wasn’t for Weiss to ask or bring up.

“Blake does often play things close to their chest. I thought they were getting better about sharing, but whatever happened at The Fall… It changed them, it changed all of us. And I don’t know what to do about it.” Weiss stared down dejectedly at the wok’s contents. She wasn’t good at fixing people like Yang was. “Blake doesn’t even want me here and I have no idea what happened, Yang wouldn’t talk about it and Blake won’t tell me either. How am I supposed to help them if they won’t let me?” She tried to fight the tears that welled up in her eyes, and jumped in surprise as Kali laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You’ll figure something out. And I know they aren’t acting like right now, but I can tell Blake is happy to see you again.” Weiss smiled wanly at the older woman, before remembering the wok and hastily returning her attention to it. “But perhaps we should talk about something a little more cheery? Sun mentioned a food fight you all got into.” Weiss stifled a snicker at the memory of all of them coated in food and joking as they made their way back to the dorms.

“Well, that is quite an epic tale...”

* * *

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Blake asked as they wandered into the kitchen in search of a snack and found Weiss and Kali laughing together over the stove.

“Blake, why did you never tell me about the time you snuggled up with Yang’s dog?” Kali asked, trying to maintain some semblance of composure.

“What?! Weiss! How did you know that?” Blake shrieked in affront, sending Weiss into further paroxysms of laughter. In her shaking hand, she held out her scroll to show a picture of Blake, sleeping on the floor and holding Zwei to their chest like he was a stuffed animal.

“I came back early and found this adorableness just lying there. How could I not take a picture?”

“Give me that!” Blake huffed, trying to snatch the scroll out of Weiss’ hands but the younger Faunus danced away.

“Hey, I did you a favour, you left the door wide open so anyone could see your snuggle time with Zwei, this picture was merely the price for my services.” Weiss taunted, darting around the central table as Blake growled and followed.

“Those were unauthorised snuggles and should not have been documented!” The short chase ended with Blake managing to grab the scroll and using their height advantage to keep it out of Weiss’ reach. “Now, what else do you have on here.” They mused out loud as they flicked through the photo album whilst Weiss tried to get her scroll back and Kali continued to chuckle.

“Blake, I think you should give Weiss her scroll back.” She eventually told her child sternly but they were too busy staring at the pictures on Weiss’ scroll.

“You kept these?” They asked, shock creeping in their voice as they looked at a photo of Weiss and Blake together at one of the many cafés they’d visited in Vale.

“Of course I did.” Weiss said, ceasing her attempts to jump up to retrieve her scroll, allowing Blake to lower it so they could look at the photos properly. “I keep all the photos I take.” She peered around Blake as they kept looking through the album that documented their time at Beacon. Yang and Blake sparring, Ruby asleep during a lesson, Neo doing yoga on the ship, Zwei and Ruby playing. Until finally, they stopped on one, a group shot of Teams RWBY and JNPR taken right after the food fight, all of them grinning joyfully up at the camera, Weiss clearly standing on a table to make the shot.

“That one’s my favourite.” Weiss confessed quietly, feeling emotion bubbling in her chest.

“Why? Why not one just of you and Ruby?” Blake asked quietly, scanning the picture for some clue.

“That’s the only photo I have of Pyrrha.” Weiss confessed, voice catching a little as she spoke, and Blake wrapped an arm around her in comfort. They stayed like that for a while, Kali moving around them carefully, unwilling to interrupt the two younger Faunus. Eventually they broke apart, Weiss swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand and taking back her proffered scroll.

“Thanks, Blake.” As she closed out of the app, she noticed something. “You didn’t delete it?” She asked, opening up the picture of Blake and Zwei again.

“Your pictures mean a lot to you, it’d be wrong for me to delete them.” They said, fighting off a deep blush. “Besides, it _ is _kind of cute.”

“It is.” Weiss agreed smugly.

“Well if you two are finished discussing how cute Blake is with that adorable puppy, I could use some more help.”

“Yes, mom.” Blake agreed and moved over to the stove to help, head bowed and in profile as they attended to the flannel egg. It was almost too perfect. Selecting the camera app, she lined up her shot and took a picture. The fake shutter sound drawing the attention of the two cat Faunus.

“I don’t have a photo of you with your new hair, Blake.” She shrugged, stowing her scroll and heading over to the cupboard Kali had told her held the dishes.

“Well fair warning, Weiss, I have some photos too.” Weiss whirled around to face a smugly grinning Blake. “I think Sun might be particularly interested in some of them.” The white-haired Faunus sighed deeply, she did kind of deserve this, but she was not looking forward to it, at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, aren't they cute? Little shorter chapter this time, but I like the interactions between Weiss and Kali and it's really only a matter of time before Weiss gets adopted. Not really much else to say here, it's mostly fluff and humour.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and putting up with my occasional flailings.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17

“Not bad, ice queen!” Sun called out as he backflipped away from her volley of icicles.

“It’d be better if you stayed still.” She growled, skating across several glyphs to close the distance Sun was trying to put between them.

“Where’s the fun in that?” He crowed, firing of a few shotgun blasts that slammed into Weiss’ wing as she brought it up to block mid-charge.

It had been a week since Weiss and Neo had arrived on Menagerie and they were no closer to persuading Blake to leave with them. Not only that, but Weiss had the added concern of what they’d do once Blake did agree. Neo was advocating for heading straight to Haven to find Ruby and Cinder, whilst Weiss wanted to go back to Patch to reunite Blake and Yang.

Either way, it was all academic unless Blake actually agreed to leave and, with none of her arguments working, Weiss was left with little else to do other than train. So here she was, struggling to land a hit on the monkey Faunus. As it turned out, Sun was one of the most difficult opponents Weiss had faced and was definitely deserving of that place in the finals.

It wasn’t that he hit particularly hard, or at least it was nothing she couldn’t just shrug off with her vast aura reserves. No, Sun’s primary advantage was his complete unpredictability. It was throwing off her aim as he was liable to leap in wild directions, rendering her newly learned skills at leading her shots useless. Not to mention how his nunchaku moved, wrapping around her sword and preventing her from parrying.

She’d never really fought against anyone with a flexible weapon before, the only person who came to mind was that member of Team JAYD with the flails. Hissing in frustration, Weiss launched herself forward with a flap of her wings, something she’d picked up over the last few days, and swung Penny Dreadful in a wide arc that Sun ducked under before popping up and smacking her in the chin with his staff and sending her reeling back.

“You getting a little hot under the collar there, ice queen?” He smirked, twirling Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang lazily. Flexing her jaw to work out the soreness from the blow, Weiss took a few calming breaths as she and Sun circled each other. She knew he was trying to rile her up and was quite embarrassed that it was working.

Really, the whole fight was happening because he was able to get under her skin whenever he wanted. Earlier on he’d been bragging that, out of the four of them staying with the Belladonnas, he was the best at combat since he’d been selected for the finals. Of course that was something Weiss couldn’t let stand, after all, she’d been selected for the finals as well. Soon one thing led to another and now they were outside having an official sparring match judged by Neo and Blake, the former eagerly accepting her role, the latter less so.

Ultimately it was Sun who broke from the circling, lashing out with the tip of his staff, trying to jab Weiss in the stomach, only for the blow to be parried and responded to with a small fireball that singed his hair as he rolled aside. If she had to decide who was better, after about ten minutes of them fighting, Weiss would have to say it was Sun. But that was without Weiss using her semblance to its full potential, not that she’d tried since the day she met Neo.

She paid for getting distracted by her thoughts with a hard whack from Sun’s staff, sending her tumbling into a roll, popping up halfway across the makeshift arena. This was a blessing in disguise, however, as it gave Weiss enough space to concentrate. Surely it couldn’t be that hard, she’d done it three times already. Closing her eyes, Weiss thought back over her defeated foes just as Winter had told her to. She sensed the flow of aura manifesting as a glyph a couple of feet in front of her.

It felt like something was trying to manifest. She opened her eyes to see something trying to push through the surface of the glyph, but something was holding it back. Growling in frustration, Weiss poured more aura into the glyph, and it exploded.

Shards of aura scattered and vanished into aether as Weiss was staggered backwards by the force of the exploding glyph. Before she could regain composure, a foot slammed into her gut, sending her sailing back and over the bounds of the arena, landing with a thump on her back.

“Ow.”

She made no effort to get up as she heard Sun’s footsteps running over.

“Weiss! Are you okay?” He sounded mildly panicked as he knelt down beside her, already starting to look over her for injuries.

“I’m fine, Sun. Just winded.” She muttered, irritation bleeding into her tone as she sat up. Why couldn’t she summon on purpose? It wasn’t as though she could rely on life-or-death situations all the time. Stiffly, she pulled herself up into a sitting position and looked over at Blake and Neo, both watching with varying amounts of concern.

“You sure? You seemed kinda spacey the last couple of minutes.” Sun asked, standing up and offering a hand which Weiss accepted and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

“I was just letting myself get distracted.” She reassured the monkey Faunus, leading the way back to the shade and the other two.

‘ _ You okay, Weiss?’  _ Worry sharpened her signs. Weiss forced a cheery smile onto her face.

“I’m fine, thanks. I think I’m going to sit out for a little while though.” She commented, leaning back against the wall of the house and sliding down into a sitting position.

“I guess I am the best fighter here, unless anyone wants to challenge me?” Sun grinned cockily, looking between Blake and Neo, the former holding up their hands in surrender and the latter looking down at Weiss questioningly.

‘ _ Can I?’ _

“You don’t have to ask me. If you want to put monkey boy in his place, go ahead.” Sun looked nervous at the almost vicious grin that crossed Neo’s face as she grabbed him by the wrist and led him out onto the arena.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, my aura took a bit of a battering.” He tried to wriggle his way out, but Neo was having none of it, signing rapidly. “What did she say?” He asked Weiss, who was stifling some chuckles.

“She said, ‘Don’t be such a baby, you’re still at well over half-capacity. Scared of being beaten by a little girl?’.” Weiss translated and Sun gave Neo an offended look.

“Yes, actually, did you see some of the girls in the tournament?” Sun gesticulated wildly, and Weiss had to admit he had a point. Neo just rolled her eyes and dropped into a fighting stance, Hush held at the ready. Somewhat reluctantly, Sun lowered into a stance of his own, staff spinning out, both waiting for the signal to start.

“3. 2. 1. Start!” Weiss called out. If it were anyone else watching, they wouldn’t have noticed the faint shimmer moving away from Neo’s form, but Weiss knew Neo by now and knew exactly what to look for when she used her semblance. Sun definitely didn’t notice as he swung out with his staff at Neo, only for her to shatter beneath the blow and appear behind him, scoring a quick strike with Hush.

“Sun doesn’t stand a chance, does he?” Blake intoned from above Weiss, who shook her head as the other pair exchanged several quick blows, culminating in Neo nearly tripping the monkey Faunus up with the crook of her parasol.

“She once tried to strangle a man who repeatedly insulted me for being a Faunus.” Weiss mentioned idly, earning a soft hum of acknowledgement from Blake.

“How chivalrous of her.” They commented dryly, still focused on the fight. Sun was trying to take advantage of Neo’s lack of ranged capabilities and was peppering her with shots from Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, but they were utterly ineffectual against Hush. “So what happened out there? You don’t normally space out like that during fights and your glyphs don’t normally explode like that.” Weiss groaned in annoyance.

“If you must know, I was trying to summon.” Blake frowned in thought, sliding down the wall to sit beside Weiss.

“You mentioned that before I think, something about Cardin?” They asked and Weiss nodded.

“Summoning is a part of the Schnee semblance, we can call our fallen foes to our side to aid us in battle. In that alley, when Cardin was beating me senseless, was the first time I’d been able to do it.”

“Your semblance is hereditary?”

“Passed down the Schnee line for generations, all the way back to the aristocracy, when Schnee was a noble house. Our sigil is based upon its manifestation.” Weiss confirmed, remembering Jacques’ somewhat ironic history lessons on the family.

“Hereditary semblances are pretty rare. I suppose it makes learning to use it easier though.” Blake noted and Weiss just sighed, pulling her attention away from Neo dancing around Sun and toying with the poor boy.

“You’d think, but Winter has been trying to teach me to summon for a couple of years now and I haven’t managed it outside of extreme situations.” She explained, closing her eyes and focusing on keeping her glyph small as she recalled beating the Arma Gigas. Again, she opened her eyes to see something trying to break free of the glyph, but unwilling to have a repeat of the events of her spar with Sun, dismissed it irritably.

“I’m doing everything Winter told me to do, but it’s just not working.” She groused, crossing her arms and looking back at the fight to see Neo wrapped around Sun’s back and trying to choke him out with Hush. “Should we help him?”

“Sun’s a big boy, he can take care of himself, see?” Blake pointed out as Sun was able to score an elbow to Neo’s midriff and dislodged the multi-coloured girl. “And have you considered that your semblance doesn’t work quite like your sister’s?”

“How could it not? I told you, it’s hereditary.” Weiss cocked her head in confusion at Blake’s baffling suggestion.

“Just hear me out. Semblances are a manifestation of our aura, our souls. Even if your semblance is inherited, surely it would make sense that who you are as a person affects exactly how it manifests?” Weiss considered the point as Neo finally tired of toying with Sun and swiftly put him down with a hard kick to the side of the head. It certainly sounded like there was merit to Blake’s idea, Weiss had picked up a few bits and pieces of theories about aura and semblances when she’d been looking up healing and what Blake was saying seemed to mesh with those.

“You may be right.” Weiss acquiesced, watching as Neo helped Sun to his feet and brushing some of the dust off of him. “You’ve certainly mellowed out from demanding Neo and I get on the first boat away from here.” Weiss noted calmly.

“I’ve come to accept the fact that, much like Sun, you’re not going to leave me alone, and that Neopolitan’s attached herself to you like a limpet.” Blake sighed in resignation. “I still think you and the others should stay out of sight and get on the first boat out of Menagerie though.” They told her, as Neo led a thoroughly thrashed Sun over, gleeful grin plastered across her face. “You alright there, Sun?” They asked, only for the monkey Faunus to groan in response.

“Ow.”

“Neo, don’t you think you went a little too hard on him?” Weiss asked reproachfully and Neo tried to school her expression into one of innocence.

‘Nope, I think it was just right! 😁😁’ Weiss could only shake her head, trying to keep a similar grin off her own face as she turned her attention to Sun. “Sorry, Sun, I probably should have warned you or something.”

“Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t hurt that much.” Sun reassured her as Blake stood up.

“Now that that’s over, I’m going to see if Mom needs any help with dinner.” Waving goodbye to the other three, they made their way indoors, leaving the other three in the shade of the house.

‘You up for a fight, Weiss? 😁’ Neo asked, smiling hopefully until Weiss shook her head.

“Sorry, Neo, but I’m done for today, besides I just saw what you did to poor Sun.”

‘I’ll go easy on you, one hand behind my back. 😇😇’ The pastel girl offered with an innocent smile that Weiss did not trust one inch.

“You know that’s not happening. Besides, I’m running low on Dust.” Weiss popped open the chambers of Lilie der Rache to show the others how low the chambers were. “And I’d rather not use my reserve supplies.”

“Well then, why don’t we go and get you some more Dust before dinner?” Sun suggested and Weiss narrowed her eyes at him.

“Without Blake?” They hadn’t actually ventured out into Kuo Kuana without Blake to guide them yet. They’d been a few times after the first day, often at Neo’s behest to track down the ice cream cart so she could get her fix.

“Sure! We’ll be fine!” Sun chirped as Neo offered a hand to Weiss to help her up.

‘We can get ice cream! 😄😄’ Weiss shook her head at Neo’s suggestion, rolling her eyes fondly.

“You’ll ruin your appetite if you do that. Honestly, you’re as bad as Ruby sometimes, I swear.” She grumbled, dusting herself off and looking between the pair. Blake had told her they would prefer for them to stay out of sight, but it was just a quick trip to the market. “Though I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to visit town for a little while.” Sun whooped in glee as the three walked around the side of the house and started up the slope towards the market.

“Did either of you see any Dust vendors?” Weiss asked of the other two, trying her best to dodge around various other pedestrians, a task that seemed much more difficult this time around.

“Nope, but I’m sure there’ll be one in the market.” Sun suggested as Neo shook her head. The walk up to the top of the hill only took ten minutes, so it was next to no time at all that the three stood overlooking the city.

“I don’t think I’ll quite get over just how many people there are here.” Weiss murmured and Neo nodded in agreement.

“Really helps it sink in just how badly the Faunus have been treated.” Sun said, looking mildly guiltily.

“You okay, Sun?” Weiss asked, resting a hand on his upper arm.

“I’m fine. I just… Never really got the whole politics thing. Growing up in Vacuo you don’t really get anti-Faunus prejudice, and after I left to train at Haven I just stayed out of it.”

“Blake’s rubbing off on you.” The blonde nodded in agreement, grinning sheepishly.

“They kinda impressed on me that neutrality isn’t much of an option, especially if you’re a Faunus.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Like, even if you’re not actively fighting oppression, you can’t just pretend that everything’s fine.”

“Neutrality’s never been an option for me. Ever since I accepted being a Faunus, I knew I had a duty as heiress to do what I could to undo what Jacques Schnee has wrought and make up for my complacency.” Weiss sighed deeply, leading the way into the market. “Now that I’m disinherited in all but name I don’t know what I can do.”

“You’ll figure something out, you’re the second-smartest person I know.” Sun tried to reassure her and Weiss just shrugged.

“I’ve got bigger things to deal with right now.” She told him as she tried to weave through the crowds. There were fewer people, stalls were beginning to pack up and all the produce sellers had already finished for the day, but the place was still crowded and even more people bumped into her than usual.

It was about fifteen minutes into their search for a Dust vendor. At first it seemed like it was just another person shoulder checking Weiss. But the moment they took off, Neo was after him, ducking between people and catching the boy with the crook of Hush.

“Neo! What the hell?” Weiss called, shouldering her way through the onlookers as Neo reached into the boy’s ratty jacket and pulling out a familiar wallet. “Hey, that’s mine!” She grabbed the wallet from Neo’s grasp and flipped it open to check everything was still there which, thankfully, it was. She proceeded to glare at the boy who Neo had guided around to look at Weiss, though his expression was unapologetic. “Would you like to tell me what you’re doing with my wallet?” She asked coldly.

“Why do you care? Not like you need it anyway, rich girl like you.” The boy sneered, glaring up at Weiss before wriggling free of the crook and flipping them all off before vanishing into the crowd. Sighing, Weiss shoved her wallet back into her pocket, leaving her hand resting on it she continued to peruse the stalls looking for a Dust vendor. Eventually they found a stall right in the heart of the market , manned by an elderly ram Faunus.

“Good afternoon, I’m looking for some Ice Dust and Fire Dust, one capsule each and powdered, please.” Weiss asked the man politely as he idly scratched at his patchy white beard.

“200 lien for the Ice Dust, 250 for the Fire.” He pronounced, drawing an affronted gasp from Weiss.

“200 lien! A capsule of Ice Dust is only worth 50, old man!” She drew breath ready to continue berated in the old man for his extortionate prices when Sun clasped a hand over her mouth, muffling her.

“Sorry, Uncle! She’s new to the island.” He grinned broadly, ignoring Weiss’ silent sidelong glare. “200 is a bit high though, can you do it for 100?”

“175.” The old man told him, now firmly focused on Sun and no longer glaring at Weiss, whilst Neo looked on in interest.

“125?” Sun offered again and the man stroked his beard in mock thought.

“150, final offer.”

“Okay, what if, you give us the Ice Dust for 150 and we’ll take the Fire Dust for 200?” Sun wheedled and the man gave him an appraising look, before nodding once.

“Thank you, Uncle!” The monkey Faunus cheered, finally releasing Weiss, who glared at him properly now. “Ivory, pay the nice man.” Grudgingly, Weiss pulled out her wallet and handed over the requisite lien, being careful not to reveal just how much was in it. She should really stop carrying it all around with her, now that she had a place to stay.

Taking the lien and inspecting it closely, the ram Faunus nodded and handed over the two capsules, which Weiss took and shoved into her satchel. At least she wouldn’t be running out for a while. Thanking the man a few more times, Sun led them out of the main crush of people to the side of the market, where Weiss grabbed Sun by the arm and spun him around.

“What was that all about?” She demanded, planting her hands on her hips and trying to look intimidating, despite being nearly a foot shorter than Sun. “He clearly overcharged us for this Dust.”

“Weiss, that was the best price I could get you. You’re paying mainlander prices. Hell, I couldn’t get much better prices and I know how to haggle.” Weiss just looked at him blankly.

“I don’t understand.” Sun sighed deeply.

“Weiss, I hate to tell you this, but you don’t really come off as a Faunus. You act Human, I mean, you were raised as one. But even guys like me who have never been here in their life were raised as Faunus so we get the culture and stuff.”

“O-Oh, I see.” Weiss deflated somewhat, looking away and instinctively clasping her upper arm. She supposed Sun was right, she’d spent so long denying her heritage and, even after accepting it, hiding who she was. It made sense that she didn’t have a grasp of Faunus culture. So why did it make her feel awkward and slightly ill when Sun said it? “Well, I got my Dust, shall we head back?” The other two nodded and Sun led the way around the edge of the market back to the main road, Neo trotting along beside him whilst Weiss hung back a little, still thinking. She’d referred to the Faunus as her people often enough, but given her upbringing and distance from it all, were they really?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More shenanigans on Kuo Kuana and Weiss finally getting some helpful advice on summoning. Also poor Weiss, this chapter really marks the start of another sub-plot for her that I've been looking forward to including because it ends up showing off more of my version of Menagerie. So look forward to the continuation of that.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and making awful jokes.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	18. Chapter 18

Weiss didn’t know why Sun’s words were still bothering her a few days later, but here she was, brooding on the balcony overlooking the back of the Belladonna house, gazing out over the palm tree forest and the dunes beyond. She’d asked Ghira whether she could go out on an expedition to the edges of the desert, but he’d firmly set down that the desert was off limits. It wasn’t too big of a let down, she was quite unsure of going into the desert without Ruby by her side.

She sighed deeply, that was the problem with brooding. When left to her own devices, her thoughts inevitably returned to Ruby. Naturally, there were times where she regretted leaving her partner on what was fast becoming a fruitless endeavour, when she’d wonder what things would be like if she’d stayed with the brunette and travelled to Haven with her and JNR.

But there was no use dwelling on what-ifs, the decision was made and she’d see Ruby in Haven eventually. Sighing again, she stood up properly from where she was leaning on the railing and headed back inside in the hopes of finding someone to distract her from this broody introspection. She’d left Neo in Sun’s care, so it was quite a surprise when she found them playing chess in the living room rather than getting up to some form of mischief as she expected of the pair.

“I didn’t know you played chess.” She commented to Sun as she seated herself beside Neo, tapping her lightly with a wing in lieu of greeting.

“Blake taught me on the journey, the ship’s rec room had an old chess board and they were horrified I didn’t know how to play.” He explained, moving a knight up to take one of Neo’s pawns and leaving himself open to a counterattack in which Neo’s rook swept in through the gap left behind to snag a bishop.

“I’m not surprised, they are quite fond of strategy games when they aren’t distracted by White Fang plots.” After the abortive first round of Remnant: The Game, they’d played a few times in the following months and Blake had proved themself to be a formidable foe.

“Yeah, well, Nep was the one who liked stuff like this, not me.” Sun groused as he lost one of his knights. “I’m not great at planning ahead or whatever.”

“Maybe you should consider it, you are a team leader after all. Planning is part of the job.” A rush of guilt flooded Weiss. “Uh, will you team be okay? I mean, the new year has started and they’re without a leader.”

“They’ll be fine!” Sun dismissed casually, though he looked away rather quickly. “They don’t need me to do a great job. Besides, I’m doing something important here.”

“You didn’t have to stick around once I got here.” Weiss murmured, guilt still knocking around in her head whilst Neo raised a hand to stroke Weiss’ arm comfortingly, as though sensing the bird Faunus’ distress.

“It’s no biggie.” Sun reassured her as he took another pawn, drawing pitying looks from Neo and Weiss as the former slid her queen into checkmate.

“You really need to work on your forethought.” Weiss observed, joining Neo in resetting the board and nudging Neo aside to take the multi-coloured girl’s place as Sun’s opponent.

“Oh no, I’ve had enough of being thrashed at chess for one day.” He tried to leave but was grabbed by Neo and forced to remain seated.

‘Come on, one more game, I’ve never seen Weiss play before. 😢😢’ She pouted at him in an eerily similar manner to Ruby.

“Fiiiine.” He groaned as Neo cheered silently. “But I get to be white.”

“Fine by me.” Weiss replied as Sun made his first move: e4. Either someone, probably Blake, had taught him some opening moves, or he had no idea how to play. Normally Weiss did prefer to play as white, favouring aggressive gambits and trying to put opponents on the back foot. Given Sun’s inexperience, though, she elected for a standard defence of c5.

“Have you been playing chess for a long time then, Weiss?” Sun asked, moving his queen to h5.

“Since I was maybe six.” She replied, g6, Sun may be reckless but he wouldn’t let his queen get taken so early. “It was one of the few activities Jacques allowed Winter and I to partake in together.” Qxc5, Weiss raised an eyebrow, she was starting to get a bead on Sun’s playstyle.

“Allowed?” Sun asked incredulously as Weiss moved her knight out to a6, trying to tempt Sun with the bishop as well as threaten his queen.

“Yes, Jacques tried his best to keep Winter and I apart, and later myself and Whitley as well.” She smirked as Sun took the bait, Qxc8. He clearly did not think ahead and only saw immediate danger and capturing pieces, but that move was painfully amateurish.

‘ _ Why would he do that?’  _ Neo signed as Weiss easily snared Sun’s queen with her own.

“I didn’t know at the time, but I suspect since he knew about Winter and I being Faunus he was trying to keep her from corrupting me and then me from corrupting Whitley.” Weiss posited as Sun made his next move: h4.

“Well, that’s awful.” He put down as Weiss developed her queen, taking the pawn at c2, shrugging as she did so. She was playing rather sloppily, but Sun really needed all the help he could get.

“Well, it turns out pretty much all my life up until Beacon was a lie and a mess of traumatic events.” Weiss said nonchalantly as Sun moved his knight to threaten Weiss’ queen, and she moved it back, simultaneously taking a pawn and placing the monkey Faunus in check.

“That’s pretty sad, Weiss.” Sun said and Neo nodded vigorously in agreement from beside Weiss whilst Sun moved his King out of danger.

“It is what it is.” Again, Weiss shrugged, Nb4. “Obviously I’m angry that I was denied a chance at having a normal childhood or meeting my father.” Angry didn’t exactly cover it, but she was good at ignoring the hurt she felt about it.

‘ _ Sorry, I think I missed something here. You never got to meet your father?’  _ Neo asked, Sun moving up his queen’s pawn to threaten Weiss’ only for her to move it to g4 to keep threatening check.

“Did I never mention that?” Weiss asked, surprise briefly overriding the simmering rage, had it never come up in the weeks they’d been travelling together? “Jacques Schnee had my father killed before I was born.” She told them, a hint of the bitterness and anger she felt towards Jacques Schnee slip into her tone. Sun’s jaw dropped as he finished his move, another pawn forward to threaten Weiss’ queen, as did Neo’s.

“He what?!” Sun exclaimed and Neo gesticulated wildly. “That is seriously messed up.”

“It is.” Weiss replied coolly, trying to keep her anger in check by focusing on the game and moving her queen to d4, out of immediate danger. “He discovered Mother’s affair, had my father fired, and all but told me that he had him killed.”

‘ _ And I thought my parents were bad.’  _ Neo signed in revulsion before realised what she’d said and looked away from Weiss’ questioning glance.

“If you think I’m mad about it, you should have seen my sister when she told me.” She gestured for Sun to make his next move, which he did reluctantly, moving his knight to b5. “She was in tears by the end.” She sighed and hung her head, Qe5. Really, she hadn’t had much time to process the revelation of her father’s death, so much had happened and in such quick succession. Getting outed as a Faunus, The Fall, Penny and Pyrrha. All things she’d been forced to bury in the back of her mind so she could remain the one functional and present member of her team. But grief was a luxury she couldn’t afford. Anger, on the other hand, that was productive at least, and Neo had taught her the best form of justice.

‘ _ Neo, could I ask a favour of you?’  _ Weiss signed, unwilling to let Sun know exactly what she had planned. For all his positives, he did have a habit of running his mouth sometimes.

‘ _ What do you need?’  _ The multi-coloured girl signed back, tilting her head curiously.

‘ _ When we’re finished with Cinder and the others in Haven, will you help me with Jacques Schnee?’  _ Neo blinked, stunned by Weiss’ request, then hesitantly signed back.

‘ _ Of course I will.’ _

“What are you two talking about?” Sun asked suspiciously, looking between the two as though trying to decipher their signs.

“We were just discussing my next move.” Weiss lied smoothly, her anger from before abating somewhat with the assurance of a plan.

“Neo! She doesn’t need the help!” Sun moaned, apparently buying the lie. “Why can’t you help me instead?”

‘You’re beyond help I’m afraid. 😂😂😂’ Neo shook her head in mock sorrow, drawing a bark of laughter from Weiss.

“If you’re going to be like that, then I don’t see the point in playing any more.” Sun huffed, folding his arms and refusing to make his next move.

“Don’t be like that Sun. Look, I’ll play with my hand behind my back.” Weiss teased, doing just that as Neo laughed wheezily, collapsing dramatically across Weiss’ lap. Too much, too much! Weiss could already feel her heart start beating faster, she thought she’d managed to avoid this, what with keeping busy training and trying to get some answers out of Blake. But here she was, silently panicking with Neo sprawled out across her lap.

“Weiss? You okay there?” Sun asked as Neo stared up at her in concern. “You just kinda froze up.”

“I-I’m fine!” The white-haired Faunus stammered out, trying to think of a way out of this. “I just remembered I promised to help Mrs Belladonna with… Something! So I forfeit! Good game, Sun!” Weiss tried awkwardly to wriggle her way out from underneath Neo, but the shorter girl refused to move, still staring up at Weiss and doing very little to help Weiss’ panic. Eventually she just gave up trying to be gentle about it and just stood up, sending Neo tumbling to the floor.

“Sorry, Neo, but I really need to go!” She called behind her, already sprinting from the room. She didn’t stop until she was safely locked in the bathroom, leaning up against the door and breathing hard. She thought she had this under control. Groaning in frustration, she slammed the back of her head against the door in the hopes it might knock some sense into her.

She was an awful, awful person. She was betraying Ruby by doing this, she should not be feeling this way about someone else, especially not a friend like Neo. She’d tried to suppress her feelings but it just wasn’t working. Maybe she should just come clean to the pastel girl and beg for forgiveness for her perversion.

She promptly dismissed the idea as ludicrous. If nothing else, it would be like giving up, not to mention she’d lose Neo. Even if she wasn’t alone and craving company any more, she still liked having Neo around  _ as a friend  _ and would hate to lose her over some hormones or whatever this was. The strangest part of it all was that she didn’t feel any less for Ruby. Weiss still loved her liebling, maybe even more now in her absence than before. It didn’t make any sense.

Growling in frustration, she kicked off from the door and stalked over to the sink. Glaring at herself in the mirror, she turned on the taps and splashed the not-quite cold water over her face.

“This is just a phase, a passing fancy.” She snarled at the reflection as water dripped down her face. “It. Is. Nothing.” She slammed the taps off and vigorously scrubbed at her face to dry it off, leaving it slightly pink as she replaced the towel and left the room. She did not return to the living room Neo and Sun had occupied, heading instead in the opposite direction and out the front door, where she settled on the steps in the shade of the veranda.

She was thankful that the oppressive heat of the island lessened somewhat in the late afternoon as she tried to relax and enjoy the gentle breeze coming from the ocean. Despite her initial impressions of Kuo Kuana and Menagerie being not the best, the cramped conditions and generally run down feel of the island, it was in moments like this she could see the paradise Neo saw.

“Excuse me?” A soft, yet deep voice broke into Weiss’ thoughts and she looked up to see two hooded men, hands folded as though in prayer, the one on the right sporting a pair of large fox ears and the other with a swishing fox tail.

“Can I help you?” Weiss asked tentatively, glad that she wasn’t the only person on Menagerie to wear a hood, something rather suspicious otherwise.

“Do you know if Chief Belladonna is in?” The one on the right spoke this time, his voice higher but similarly soft and melodic.

“That depends who you are.” Weiss replied guardedly, she’d seen a few people coming and going from the house, presumably to meet with the Chieftain, but none dressed as strangely as these two.

“Forgive us, I am Corsac Albain and this is my brother Fennec.” The tailed one spoke again.

“We represent the White Fang here in Menagerie, we have an appointment with the Chieftain.” The other finished and Weiss’ blood froze.

“O-Oh, I see.” She tried to keep her voice level and calm.

“I assure you Miss…?” Corsac asked, waiting expectantly.

“Ice.” Weiss replied, maybe a little too quickly.

“Miss Ice, that our organisation is not nearly as violent or vicious as Humans would make us out to be.” Fennec spoke and Weiss found herself even more ill at ease with their odd manner of sharing sentences.

“That’s not what I heard about The Fall.” Weiss countered a little uncertainly, not quite sure how much she should give away about what she knew.

“A truly regrettable affair, caused by a rogue splinter group of the White Fang.” The one on the left said sorrowfully.

“In fact, if it helps lay your mind at ease Miss Ice, the apprehension of these strays is what we have come to talk to Chief Belladonna about.”

“That’s good.” Weiss tried to sound enthused about this news, but had difficulty due to how off-putting the pair’s mannerisms were. “Shall I go see if he’s in?”

“Thank you, but there’s no need, Miss Ice.” Corsac told her as the pair ascended the steps.

“Have a pleasant day.” His brother told her as he passed and they knocked on the door. Soon the door opened and there was some muted conversation and the sound of the door closing again. Weiss let out a deep breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. That had been far too close for comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was rather close for comfort. Anyway, poor Weiss and her feelings. Hopefully she'll get past it soon otherwise things are going to get ugly. Also I have learned it is quite hard to play chess against myself at two different skill levels, especially when one is supposed to be far better than I actually am.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and putting up with me.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	19. Chapter 19

“ No shadow today, Weiss?” Blake asked, settling themselves beside Weiss as she sat on the edge of one of the platforms around the Shallow Sea. “Sun told me you’d been coming out here recently.” Weiss hummed in acknowledgement, it served a dual purpose of helping her stay away from Neo and trying to immerse herself in Faunus culture, though she wasn’t about to tell them that.

“ I like it out here.” She replied simply, letting her legs swing back and forth as she let her wings soak up the sun.

“ Still doesn’t explain why Neopolitan isn’t with you.” They prodded again and Weiss huffed out an annoyed sigh.

“ We aren’t joined at the hip, Blake. She’s not Ruby. We can do things without each other.” Weiss defended herself, trying not to let anger colour her voice.

“ Alright, alright…” Blake held their hands up in surrender. “Sun was concerned because he’s been keeping an eye on her for the last few days and was wondering if something happened.”

“ Everything is fine between me and Neo.” Weiss put down firmly. It was a lie, of course, she had made things very much not fine with her stupid feelings. But, once again, she wasn’t about to tell Blake that. Their unofficial truce was still rather shaky and Weiss didn’t want to give them another reason to want her gone. Not after the most recent ship to Menagerie had come and gone a couple of days earlier.

“ If you say so.” Weiss did not appreciate the sceptical note in Blake’s voice, but couldn’t address it without tacitly acknowledging that there was something wrong.

“ You still don’t like her, do you.” She said, a statement rather than a question, as she tried to redirect the conversation a little bit.

“ I don’t see why you do.” Blake countered. “You’ve told me several times how she wants to make up for what she’s done and everything, but I don’t see it. I just see a wild and carefree ex-criminal with no remorse for what she’s done”

“ She keeps things under wraps, mostly.” Weiss had to admit Neo did have a habit of hiding her emotions under a mask of perkiness and glee.

“ And you’ve seen past that.” Blake’s voice was still laced with sarcasm.

“ Once or twice. If you’d seen her…” Weiss tailed off, remembering the few times guilt and sorrow got the best of Neo and she broke down whilst she and Weiss were alone together. But it wasn’t for her to tell Blake about that. “Maybe have a little faith in me.”

“ I do. I’m just afraid you have too much in her.” Blake answered softly, a note of resigned humour edging in as they continued. “I would have expected you to be more untrusting after what happened with Emerald and the others.” Blake hadn’t been too surprised when Weiss filled them and Sun in on Cinder and her team’s infiltration, a discussion Neo had excused herself from in shame.

“ You think closing ourselves off and not trusting people is the way we should go? You’re sounding a lot like Atlas.” Blake flinched at the comparison, news of the embargo had reached Menagerie with the ship a couple of days ago. Weiss supposed it was only a matter of time, aside from the anti-Faunus sentiment in Vale, there had also been an undercurrent of resentment towards Atlas for their occupation of Vale and their machines turning on civilians. No one trusted Atlas and, as it turned out, Atlas didn’t trust anyone either.

“ That’s different. Ironwood is just being paranoid, we know Neopolitan was aligned with Cinder and her faction.”

“ She was aligned with Roman.” Weiss corrected sharply. Why couldn’t Blake just let this go? “There’s a difference.”

“ I’m just trying to stop you from getting hurt, Weiss.” There was an undercurrent of something in Blake’s voice, it sounded like concern but there was more to it than that.

“ We’ve had this conversation at least four times already, can we talk about something different?” Weiss asked. They’d been over this so many times and neither was willing to budge on the matter and, honestly, Weiss was growing tired of the whole discussion.

“ Fine.” Blake eventually agreed, though they still sounded concerned. “Mind telling me why you came out here of all places when it’s not exactly safe for you to do so?” Weiss hummed in thought, she could lie about it, it was something she was more than a little embarrassed about. On the other hand, she didn’t really feel like mustering up the energy to come up with a convincing lie.

“ Something Sun said, maybe a week ago whilst we were shopping in the market. He said I act Human, and it made me think. Being raised as a Schnee, there’s an entire half of my heritage I never got to learn about, an entire culture I never got to experience. I keep calling the Faunus ‘my people’ but are they really?” Weiss looked away and over the bridges and platforms that made up the district, the sea glowing in the afternoon sun. “I thought maybe if I came out here I might be able to feel closer to what I was denied.”

“ I see.” Blake followed Weiss’ eyeline out over the Shallow Sea and towards the open ocean. “I think the first thing you should know is that Faunus culture isn’t this monolithic thing you’re making it out to be. We have traditions in common, true, but the way of life of Mantelian Faunus is different to that of a Mistralian, and that’s where a lot of Menagerie’s culture comes from.” Weiss merely nodded in acknowledgement.

“ Yes, well, I should start somewhere, shouldn’t I? Although I haven’t really picked up much since I started coming out here.” The cat Faunus groaned in anticipation of what was coming next.

“ You seriously want me to teach you about being a Faunus?” They looked at Weiss in exasperation.

“ I can think of no better teacher.” the white-haired Faunus wheedled.

“ Weiss, this isn’t something you just teach someone. These are years and years’ worth of traditions, often passed down in secret because Humanity tried to stamp them out. They’re meaningless if you just want to learn them for curiosity’s sake.” Blake tried to tell her, but Weiss refused to be deterred.

“ This isn’t just curiosity.” Weiss protested. “I want them to mean something to me. All the traditions I was brought up with, those are meaningless. Pomp and circumstance done for no reason other than to look good and feel superior to others. I...” She hesitated for a moment before continuing, slightly more subdued than before. “I don’t want to feel isolated anymore.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t fit in anywhere. Humans hate me for being a Faunus and Faunus hate me for being a Schnee.” Weiss confessed, letting her head hang to look over the edge of the platform she was sat on, gazing down at the rippling water, stained orange in the slowly setting sun. “I just want a place I can belong.”

“Don’t we all?” Blake commented wryly, laying a comforting hand on Weiss’ shoulder. “I know that’s why a lot of people come here, despite the less than ideal locale and circumstances we were given the island. They’re looking for a community, one where they won’t be discriminated against for who they are.”

“Does that mean you’ll help me?” Weiss asked, just about daring to let a note of hope enter her voice.

“Fine…” They acquiesced, trying to sound annoyed=, but they couldn’t help the smile that crept into their voice. Turning to face the cat Faunus, Weiss pulled them in a tight hug, wings flapping free to wrap around them as well.

“Thank you.” She mumbled, eventually pulled back and, realising her wings were exposed, tucked them away again. “So, what first?”

“First we-.” Blake began, but was interrupted by a loud bell ringing off in the distance, their ears snapping around to pinpoint the exact source.

“What is that?” Weiss asked curiously, getting to her feet and trying to see past the houses.

“Grimm attack.” Blake said, getting to their feet and already running towards the direction of the bell ringing.

“What!?” Weiss shrieked, taking off after her friend, dodging people who were hurrying away from the sound of the bell. Weiss hadn’t actually seen a Grimm the entire time she’d been in Kuo Kuana, something rather unusual given the dire warnings of the Grimm of Menagerie being particularly dangerous.

“There’s a Grimm attacking the perimeter wall.” Blake explained between harsh breaths as the pair ran through the winding streets that led away from the Shallow Sea. “This way!” They drew Gambol Shroud and, switching to its sickle form, hurled the weapon up at a roof top and pulled themselves up after it.

Seeing no immediate or easy way up to the roof, Weiss made a few small gestures, forming several glyphs and hopping up them onto the roof, following after Blake, who was already leaping to the next building. Huffing in irritation that she wasn’t quite as fast as the dark-haired Faunus over longer distances, Weiss just about kept up with a combination of glyphs and Wind Dust to throw herself over the roofs until they finally landed at the edge of the city, the perimeter wall within a stone’s throw and beyond that, a massive Death Stalker.

Weiss gulped nervously, it had to be at least twice the size of the one they’d encountered back in the Emerald forest. Several guards were arrayed along the top of the perimeter, firing battered rifles at the beast and having to dive out of the way as its stinger came down again and again. Fortunately, the wall seemed to be holding, though it was rocked by the beast’s pincers as it tried to break through.

“What’s the plan?” Weiss jumped as Blake spoke, gazing intently at the Death Stalker, Gambol Shroud still drawn.

“You’re asking me?!” Weis squeaked, hastily drawing Penny Dreadful.

“You were Ruby’s second.” Blake said by way of explanation, already taking aim, ready to pepper the creature with bullets.

“Right, right.” Weiss muttered, racking her brain for how to deal with Death Stalkers. “If we can flip it, we should be able to deal some damage to it.”

“Easier said than done, but let’s see what we can do about getting underneath it.” Blake confirmed, backing up and leaping off the roof onto the perimeter wall and off again, firing at the Death Stalker’s eyes as she went.

Groaning, Weiss backed up and launched herself after her friend, and aiming for the stinger as it came down just missing a guard and slamming into the wooden platform running along the top of the wall. Penny Dreadful gleamed in the sunlight as Weiss landed and swiped at the joint connecting the stinger to its tail, and was pleased when it shrieked, withdrawing the stinger rapidly. Following the retreating stinger, Weiss hopped over the side, ignoring the panicked shouts from the guards as she plummeted down to land on the creature’s back, Lilie’s barrel spinning as she fell.

Landing a little unsteadily on the Grimm’s back, she channelled her Aura through the Fire Dust chamber and slammed a fireball into the creature’s back, charring and damaging its chitin a little. She was forced to roll away as one of the giant pincers swung up to swipe at her, whilst Blake clung onto the creature’s tail, stabbing at the gap Weiss had targeted earlier.

Unfortunately, Weiss misjudged how much space she had on the Death Stalkers back and she ended up tumbling off and onto the sand, narrowly avoiding the beast’s scuttling legs and putting some distance between her and it. There was a sharp cry as Blake was dislodged, flying off the tail to land nearby Weiss.

“Okay, this thing is very tough.” They conceded, kipping up and readying their swords.

“Any ideas?” Weiss asked, worry leaking into her voice as the creature turned on them. At the very least it was paying attention to them rather than continuing to try to break through the wall.

“I don’t know. Dad and Māmā never mentioned fighting Death Stalkers before. Plenty of anecdotes about Dromedons though.” They growled in frustration, looking for an opening to slip under the creature’s belly as it advanced menacingly on the two Faunus.

“Woo!” All three were suddenly distracted by a loud shout of joy as Sun came flying over the wall to land a solid kick to the side of the Death Stalker’s head, knocking it aside as he backflipped away. If Sun was here then that almost certainly mean that-

Weiss thought was interrupted by a familiar girl materialising mid-air and landing on the creature’s head, stabbing her sword into one of its eyes as a pincer swung up to smash into her.

“Neo!” Weiss shrieked in fear as the pincer crashed into the pastel girl, only for her image to shatter. There creature was distracted again, this time by Blake hurling Gambol Shroud to wrap around its tail and hurl themselves at it as Weiss felt a sharp tap on the arm.

_ ‘Hey Weissy!’  _ Neo signed quickly and awkwardly, her hands hampered by holding Hush.

“Neo, what are you doing out here?! You don’t know how to fight Grimm!” Weiss shouted at the shorter girl, flipping Penny Dreadful to its gun form and firing a few blasts, which charred the Death Stalker’s armour.

_ ‘Like I’m going to sit out whilst you lot fight.’  _ She signed angrily, dodging aside as the Death Stalker’s stinger slammed into the sand where she’d been a moment ago.  _ ‘So what’s the plan?’  _ Weiss snapped her attention back to the snapping Death Stalker, still distracted by the twin assault of Blake and Sun

“Circle around, see if you can get underneath it. You go left, I go right.” Neo nodded and sprinted off in her assigned direction whilst Weiss ran to the other side. Fighting in the sand was a lot harder than she expected, her footing was unstable and she would occasionally slip. It looked like Neo and Blake were having similar difficulties. Sun, on the other hand, was having possibly too much fun, sliding across the sand effortlessly and keeping the Death Stalker’s pincers and stinger away with his staff.

As Weiss came around the side of the creature one of its legs landed right in front of her and, instinctively, she slashed at it with Penny Dreadful. Much to her surprise, the blade bit in, making a sizable wound, but her momentum was already carrying her around as Neo came darting towards her from around the back of the Grimm, still looking for an opening to slide under.

“Neo!” She called out, gesturing to the leg as she ran towards her. “The leg!” Neo nodded, but then her face fell, gesturing to Hush. Of course, Hush wasn’t designed for Grim fighting, she couldn’t cut through the chitin. Thinking fast, Weiss flipped Penny Dreadful around and tossed it to Neo as she passed. “Catch!” Neo dropped Hush in surprise as the sword flew through the air towards her, and Weiss ducked to snatch it up. Looking back, she watched Neo hack into the leg she had wounded already before Blake dropped down beside her and with a swing of their cleaver, removed the limb entirely.

The creature let out a deafening shriek of what Weiss hoped was pain as it skittered about, clumsier now that it was missing a leg, but it wasn’t dissolving, evidently made of sterner stuff than most Grimm. Pulsing her Aura down her arm, Weiss conjured a glyph that spewed forth gouts of flame at the beast’s tail, making it screech more and flail away from the flames.

With the creature on the back foot, Weiss took stock of the situation. They weren’t doing nearly enough damage, it had taken them several minutes to noticeably injure the Death Stalker, and it didn’t help that half the group’s weapons were rather ineffective.

They needed something big to put it down, otherwise they were going to tire themselves out and get sloppy. But without someone like Yang or Nora they didn’t have much hope for that, their heaviest hitter was Sun and his strength was on par with Jaune’s.

She was snapped out of her planning by a yelp of pain and she watched as Blake was smacked aside by a massive pincer, landing hard in a nearby sand dune.

“Blake!” She shrieked, scrambling over the sand to their side.

“I’m fine. Just a little love tap.” They wheezed, trying to catch their breath.

“I don’t know how we can beat this thing.” Weiss informed Blake, panicking slightly seeing after her friend get hit. “None of us have something big enough to do any proper damage.”

“You do.”

“What?” Weis asked in confusion, looking back at the fight every so often to watch Neo and Sun running interference.

“This is an extreme situation isn’t it?” Blake coughed, crawling to their feet.

“Those were all accidents!”

“Just try it, okay? Otherwise we’ll have to retreat, and I don’t know how long it’ll take before the guards can put it down.” With those words, Blake ran back into the fray, firing wildly at the creature’s eyes.

Exhaling hard, Weiss closed her eyes and, as before, recalled her victory over the Arma Gigas. It had been her proudest moment to date, when she’d pushed herself beyond her limits and gotten stronger because of it. She hadn’t been strong enough during the training, but the others were counting on her now. They believed she could be stronger. Ruby believed she could be stronger. She couldn’t let them down, she had to be better than this.

Aura tingled and flashed down her arm as a glyph span into existence, bright red, and something burst forth in a flash of light and heat. Weiss was forced to shield her face from the wave of heat that rolled over the battlefield, stunning the other hunters and staggering the Death Stalker. When she looked back, she saw her Arma Gigas summon, much like the one she’d called into existence back in the forest. Only this time instead of being forged of stone, this one burned, flames licking out from its armour and wreathing its blade, which it drew as it knelt before Weiss, the sand beneath it melting into glass.

Stunned, Weiss could only raise her hand and point to the Death Stalker, which had now recovered from the shock of Weiss’ summon and was bearing down on the others. Obeying Weiss’ silent command, the knight raised its sword and turned about face to charge the beast.

The others were forced to dive out of the way as it barrelled forward, its first cleave taking off one of the Death Stalker’s pincers. Weiss could feel her aura draining just maintaining the construct as its second swing carved off the other pincer with a horrible sizzling sound. The air was rent with the shrieks of the Death Stalker as it flailed its tail wildly at the Arma Gigas, only for it to be caught in one hand and snapped off in one swift, brutal motion.

Unable to defend itself, the creature tried to scuttle away, but it was too late and Weiss’ summon plunged its flaming sword into its head, silencing its screeching cries, and the battlefield fell silent, save for the sound of scorching Grimm flesh.

She’d done it, she’d actually done it. Weiss slumped in relief and released her concentration, the flames forming her summon flickering out and vanishing into the aether. There were cheers from behind her, but Weiss wasn’t paying attention, as Neo came crashing into her midriff in a tight hug, sending them both crashing to the ground.

“Ow.” Weiss said flatly from her position lying on her back whilst Neo nuzzled deeper into her. Weiss wasn’t sure how her heart could be beating any faster than it already had been after the adrenaline rush of the fight, yet here she was, heart threatening to burst right out of her chest at the close proximity of Neo, whilst Blake and Sun converged on the pair.

“I told you you could do it.” Blake smirked, though she kept shooting Neo odd looks. Sun, meanwhile, was freaking out.

“What was that Weiss!? One moment we’re struggling against the Death Stalker and the next there’s a giant flaming knight thing making mincemeat of it!” He gesticulated wildly as Weiss tried to extricate herself from Neo’s grip.

“I’m not entirely sure.” She admitted, finally giving up and praying she wouldn’t have a heart attack or have her face turn permanently red from how much she must be blushing. “Can we not talk about it here though?” She looked back at the wall, where several guards were congregating and seemed to be trying to sort out a way to bring the four back inside. Blake, meanwhile, just dropped their head into their hands.

“So much for keeping the three of you out of sight and away from me.” They groaned as Neo finally let Weiss back up, and the four slowly trudged towards the wall where a rope was being lowered. “Now everyone on Menagerie is going to know Blake Belladonna’s come back and they and their three friends slew a giant Grimm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since we've had a fight scene and now Weiss has finally been able to summon on command, although it is rather strange. Also the parts about Weiss feeling isolated from other Faunus and their culture is something I've wanted to include pretty much from the start as it's something near to me, growing up in England always meant I felt disconnected from the Chinese part of my heritage.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being an awesome DM.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	20. Chapter 20

Fortunately, Blake’s fears proved to be unfounded. True, there had been an initial hubbub about the four teens who slew a giant Deathstalker before the Chieftain or any of hunters could even make it to the scene, but that had died down after a few days as people began preparing for the coming summer storms.

Weiss would have been lying if she’d said she hadn’t breathed a sigh of relief that the mysterious bird Faunus hadn’t been linked to her or the name Weiss Schnee. She still wasn’t entirely sure how she had summoned the Arma Gigas, or why it had been on fire, but the knowledge that she could do it intentionally bolstered Weiss’ confidence.

True to their word, Blake had taken it upon themselves to educate Weiss about some of the finer points of Faunus culture. The first lesson finding them sat on the balcony, looking out over Kuo Kuana as the sun set and Blake talked.

“ There’s no right or wrong way to be a Faunus.” Was the first thing they told Weiss. “How you were raised makes you no less of a Faunus than I am.” They sighed. “That said, there are some Faunus, mostly older ones who fought in the Civil Rights Revolution, who are adamant we should follow these traditions to the letter to keep them alive. And they have a point. As part of our oppression, Humanity tried to erase our culture, to stamp out our history.” Blake’s ears flattened in anger out of pure instinct. “Keeping our traditions alive is an act of defiance against the people who think we are lesser.”

Weiss listened in fascination. After moving past her prejudices and learned to accept herself, Weiss had done her due diligence to learn about the Faunus. But the books in Beacon’s library didn’t mention anything about this, although Weiss suspected that probably had something to do with the fact that they were all written by humans.

“ But I disagree with some of their more extreme viewpoints. Like when they claim Faunus should never mix with humans, lest we somehow dilute our people.” Blake had to hold back what sounded like a sneer at the last part.

“ That does sound rather extreme…” Weiss murmured, even more people who would hate her for being born to a Human mother.

“ Weiss, whatever you’re thinking, stop it.” Blake instructed firmly. “They are wrong. I told you, you are no less Faunus than I am.” Weiss nodded hesitantly.

“ How do you know all of this?” She asked curiously. She’d hoped Blake would be knowledgeable about the subject, but this went beyond just a casual interest.

“ Māmā liked histories, and she spent a lot of time liaising with some of the more extreme sub-groups of the White Fang.” Blake explained. “She was the one who got me interested in books.”

“ Why does this place look so much like Mistral then?” Weiss asked. “It’s something Neo mentioned when we first got here that the architecture was similar to Mistralian.”

“ Most of Menagerie’s early settlers were from Mistral. It’s in the nature of cultures to join, to adopt parts of each other. Although in our case it’s more filling the gaps left by Humans.” Blake smiled a little, seeming to enjoy sharing this knowledge with Weiss. “There’s an old Mistralian technique for pottery repair called Kintsugi, where cracks and broken parts are replaced with gold. It’s a way of showing how breakage and repair are a part of the object’s history, and celebrating that.” Blake actually chuckled a little.

“ I find it quite fitting we’ve adopted it as a part of our own culture, repairing one of the gaps left by our oppression. Our scars are part of us, and they can be painful, but they make up who we are. In fixing them like this, we become stronger and show we aren’t ashamed of them. I think we should recognise that, both as individuals and as a people.”

“ Is that what you’ve been doing here? Fixing yourself? You said before that being single and out here was good for you.” Blake’s head snapped around to look at Weiss. “Because if that's all you have been doing, I don’t know why you couldn’t have at least told us.”

“ It’s more than that, Weiss.” Blake said in a warning tone. “You don’t understand.”

“ Then make me.” Weiss put down firmly.

“ It’s not that simple, Weiss.” The cat Faunus continued to insist. “This was the only way I could keep you all safe.”

“ Blake, you don’t get to decide how to keep us safe.” Weiss protested, ignoring the flickers of shame at how she had chosen to protect Ruby.

“ Yes, I do. This is my problem and I have to deal with it.” Blake growled, the conversation fast becoming an argument.

“ We’re your team! Your family! We deal with things together!” The white-haired Faunus shot back. She’d been here for almost a month and made no progress with Blake. Enough was enough. “Tell me, Blake. Please!”

“ I…” Weiss leaned in as Blake was about to speak, when there was an awkward cough from behind them.

“ Sorry, I guess I’m interrupting something big, huh?” Sun asked nervously, setting the tea tray he was carrying down on the small table Blake had brought out with their chairs. It took and awful lot of self-control for her not to swear very loudly at Sun with the accompanying gestures Neo had taught her.

“ We were just finishing, Sun.” Blake answered quickly, ignoring Weiss’ protests and getting up from their chair.

“ Wait just a minute, you-.” Weiss started, also rising, but she halted when Blake froze, their ears twitching towards the palm trees. “What is it?” Weiss peered out into the trees where the dark-haired Faunus seemed to be listening.

“ I could have sworn I heard something…” They murmured, ears twisting this way and that, searching for the sound again.

“ Uhhh Blake? You remember you told me it was only the militant arms of the White Fang who wore those masks?” Sun intoned softly.

“ Yes?”

“ Then why can I see someone wearing a White Fang mask in that tree?” Sun gestured as subtly as he could with his tail. Weiss followed where the flicking tail was pointing and, sure enough, she caught a glimpse of a horned figure wearing a white mask perched in a palm tree. For a brief moment it felt as though they were staring right at each other before there was a rustle and the figure vanished, leaping away into the gathering shadows.

“ The White Fang have ninjas?!” Sun exclaimed, but Blake was already jumping onto the railing and away into the trees, their words vanishing with them.

“ A spy!” Weiss and Sun stared after for a moment before leaping over the balcony themselves, Sun taking to the trees as Weiss hit the ground hard and began running, flipping open her scroll as she did. She was incredibly thankful for her nightvision as she darted through the trees, flicking through her contacts until she found the one that had been input as ‘😁 Neo! 😁’. Jabbing the call button, she held the scroll to her ear as she ran after the sounds of snapping branches and disturbances. After a couple of rings, the call was answered with a questioning and concerned whistle.

“ Neo, listen to me. I need you to tell Mr and Mrs Belladonna that we were being spied on by the White Fang. We’re going after one of them now.” Weiss spoke quickly in between harsh breaths as she heard Sun call out in the near distance, followed by Blake. “Tell them first, don’t come after us until you do.” An affirmative whistle and the call was ended, allowing Weiss to fully concentrate on the pursuit.

A few moments later she burst out of the trees and skidded to a halt at the foot of a building. Growling in frustration at the prospect of another rooftop chase, Weiss slammed Lilie’s barrel around to Earth Dust and slammed a fist into the ground. A pillar of rock shot up beneath her and launched Weiss up into the air and onto the roof.

A few roofs away, she could see Blake and Sun chasing the dark figure, so Weiss took off after them. The gap between the groups was widening, though, and Weiss wondered briefly if she needed to add parkour to her training regimen as she landed painfully, failing to duck into a proper roll.

“ Why are you watching us!?” Blake’s voice came from far away, but their anger carried it back to Weiss on the still night air. She sped up as she heard the sounds of a scuffle break out and saw the bright yellow glow of Sun’s semblance. Hurling herself recklessly across the gaps and up a rickety ladder or two, Weiss landed with a thump on the roof with the others just as the spy’s mask cracked and crumbled away and Blake gasped in shock.

“ Ilia?”

“ You know he-argh!” Sun started but was cut off as the spy’s weapon lanced out, breaking his weakened aura and stabbing him in the chest whilst discharging Lightning Dust into him.

“ Sun!” Weiss shrieked in fear, torn between rushing to the injured boy as he collapsed to the ground and going for the spy.

“ You should have never come here.” The spy declared to Blake, before giving Weiss a look of pure hatred and rage. “Schnee.” She spat, before swinging her weapon down to strike the roof, kicking up a cloud of dust. Jolted out of her stupor, Weiss ran for where the Faunus had been, but when she got there, the girl had vanished into thin air.

“ Sun! I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry!” Blake sobbed from behind her and Weiss whirled around to run back to the injured boy. He was bleeding badly. Blake had their hands over the wound, trying to stem the flow of blood, but it still leaked out.

“Help! Somebody, please help!”

* * *

The next few hours were a whirl of activity and chaos. Their cries for help were answered and in due course, Sun’s wound had been dressed and the bleeding stopped, though judging by how much blood had been on Blake’s hands, he’d lost quite a bit. The doctor had said he was very lucky the attack had missed his heart and that he’d heal up soon enough.

After he’d been treated, Sun had been moved into Ghira’s study, deemed to be the safest room in the house, where Weiss Blake and Neo now sat vigil. Blake hadn’t spoken since help had arrived and just sat numbly, arms wrapped around their legs as they crouched on the sofa, waiting. Neo had snuggled into Weiss’ side and was hugging her tightly, Weiss not having the heart to stop her like she had been doing the last few days. None of them slept and soon dawn was breaking, but Sun remained unconscious.

“This was why I left.” Blake croaked out, finally breaking the tense silence that filled the room. “This was why I told you that you needed to leave me.”

“Blake…” Weiss murmured, but the cat Faunus continued, unheeding.

“I am done seeing my friends and the people I love get hurt because of me.”

“Blake, what are you-.”

“Shut up!” They shouted suddenly, ears pinned back in anger, jolting Neo out of her doze and shocking Weiss. “You asked me to make you understand, so I am! You think I want to be alone? You think it didn’t tear my heart to pieces to leave you and Ruby and Yang!?” Tears streamed down their face as they continued. “I left without telling you because I hoped you’d hate me for leaving.”

“You can’t mean that.” Weiss said weakly as Neo buried herself tighter into her.

“I do! If you hated me, you wouldn’t follow me, and I could keep you all safe.” Blake swiped angrily at their face. “If I told you why I had to leave, you would have thought you could help me, but you can’t.” They stood up, starting to pace in agitation.

“You saw Ilia last night, and this is so much worse, so much more dangerous. You wanted to know what happened at Beacon? Adam happened.” A chill washed down Weiss’ spine at the name of Blake’s former partner. Oddly, Neo also stiffened and looked up at Blake in worry. “He told me he would destroy everything I loved, starting with Yang.” They stopped pacing and looked at Weiss.

“I’m dangerous to be around and you’re all better off without me.”

“Well, I think that’s a load of crap.” The three jumped in surprise as a rough voice spoke up as Sun pulled himself upright. “You think you’re being all selfless, but you’re not. That friend of yours got me good, but I’d do it again if it meant protecting you. Any of us would.” Weiss nodded in agreement, as did Neo, strangely enough, though she still looked deeply concerned.

“This happened because of what I did, my decisions. I should be the one to deal with the consequences.” Blake muttered, arm reaching up to clasp their bicep.

“And we get to make our own decisions.” Weiss stated firmly, standing up and walking over to Blake. “And we’ve decided that we’re sticking by you. So please stop pushing us away. It hurts far more than any stab wound or dismemberment ever could.” The dark-haired Faunus let out a teary laugh as Weiss pulled them into a tight hug that was swiftly joined by Neo.

“Hey, where’s my hug?” Sun protested as he tried to get up, but winced and gave up as he tweaked his injury.

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything.” Ghira’s deep voice rumbled from the doorway and the three broke apart to see the man himself and Kali step into the room, grave looks on their faces.

“Dad? What’s wrong?” Blake asked, worry creeping back into their voice as Ghira made his way over to the coffee table in the middle of the room and placed a scroll on it.

“Your mother and I were looking through the scroll you obtained from Ilia, and it’s not good.” He rumbled, seating himself on the sofa the three teens had vacated. “Adam is planning to usurp Sienna as leader of the White Fang and stage a full-scale attack on Haven Academy. It will be the Fall all over again.” Did he just say Haven? But that was where…

“Ruby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looks like the plot has finally caught up with Team SNBW and the White Fang know about Weiss, that could cause some problems down the line. At least Blake's finally opened up about what happened at Beacon.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavelianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and saying she loves Neo, because we all should she's freaking adorable.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	21. Chapter 21

“Pardon?” Ghira asked as Weiss froze up.

“Ruby’s going there, we were going to meet up. She has no idea what she’s about to walk into.” Panic clawed at the edges of Weiss’ mind. She needed to go, now. She had to get to Ruby, to warn her. “When’s the next ship to Anima?”

“Weiss, the last ship left two days ago.” Kali said gently. “With the summer storms coming in, no one dares make the journey. Menagerie is completely cut off from the rest of Remnant”

“What!?” Weiss all but shrieked, breathing heavily, the panic now fully setting in, her wings flapping in agitation. Was she supposed to be breathing this fast? She needed air. Pushing past the others, she burst out of the door leading onto the balcony and gulped in as much air as she could. Wheezing, she clutched at the balcony, the oh-so-familiar buzzing blotting out the sounds of the island.

She was trapped here, who knows for how long, all whilst her love was headed for what would soon become another warzone. A vicious, dark part of her hissed that this was all Blake’s fault, that if they hadn’t run away, Weiss wouldn’t in this position. A different part insisted that this was her own fault for being selfish and chasing after Blake.

“Weiss?” Blake’s voice just about broke through the buzzing and Weiss felt a soft hand lay itself between her wings and start rubbing gently. “Try to take deep breaths, hold them for eight seconds and release.” Shakily, Weiss nodded and complied with the instructions. Deep breath in, hold for eight seconds, exhale. With each repetition, she could feel the panic slowly ebb away. The circling hand helping smooth the jagged raw edges it left behind.

“I bet you didn’t miss these.” Weiss wheezed, trying to inject some humour into the situation.

“I missed  _ you _ , Weiss. Panic attacks and all.” Blake reassured her, still rubbing circles on Weiss’ back. They remained like that for another couple of minutes, before Blake spoke up again. “Do you feel like coming back inside? We’re trying to decide what to do. Or would you rather not and I’ll fill you in later?” Weiss shook her head, straightening up and ruffling her wings.

“No, I want to be a part of this.” She said and made her slightly unsteady way back into the study, where Sun and Neo appeared to be in a heated conversation with Kali translating for Neo.

“Look, all I’m saying is it sounds like the best way to deal with this is to destroy the White Fang, then they can’t attack Haven.” Sun gestured wildly, wincing every so often as his injury reminded him of its presence. There was a flurry of signs from Neo that Kali translated a little hesitantly.

“It won’t be that easy, Adam Taurus has the support of Cinder and whatever allies she has.” The older cat Faunus explained for the multi-coloured girl.

“And what comes after you destroy the White Fang, Sun?” Weiss spoke up, making everyone in the room jump a little.

“Weiss, Are you sure you’re up to this?” Kali asked in concern and Neo nodded vigorously in agreement.

“I’m fine thank you, Mrs Belladonna.” Weiss croaked, before clearing her throat and returning to Sun. “So, what does happen after we destroy the White Fang? You asked Blake what they would do once they enacted massive societal change. So now I’m posing the question to you.”

“I… Err…” Sun tailed off, shrugging helplessly. “I don’t know.” He admitted, hanging his head, which Neo patted reassuringly.

“Since we are cut off from the rest of Remnant it only makes sense that we use the time productively and actually work out a plan.” Weiss stated, before remembering she wasn’t exactly in a position of authority here. “Um, if you approve Chief Belladonna.” She deferred to the man, who chuckled in response.

“I think this is something for you kids to take charge of. I’m happy to lend assistance, but I’m not cut out for leading something like this, this was more Sienna’s area of expertise.” Weiss thought she heard a note of regret in the man’s tone, nor did she fail to notice the uncomfortable twitching of Kali’s ears at the mention of the current High Leader of the White Fang. “Besides, perhaps it’s time for your generation to start stepping up.” The three teenaged Faunus nodded in agreement whilst Neo shuffled awkwardly off to the side.

“Who says we need to destroy the White Fang?” Blake spoke up. “Dad, I know you don’t approve of the methods used after you stepped down, but they have worked. Petitions and negotiations only go so far, organised civil disobedience can’t be ignored.” Weiss would have to defer to Blake’s expertise on the subject, but it sounded like something she’d put some thought into.

“So what do you propose?” She asked curiously and Blake took a deep steadying breath.

“I’m done running from my mistakes. I say instead of destroying the White Fang, we take it back. Show the Humans we are not the monsters Adam wants to make us out as and show our people that we can make a difference for them without bloodshed.” Weiss blinked a few times, thoroughly impressed by Blake’s impromptu speech, and it seemed the others were too. Ghira was smiling proudly at his child and Neo let out a whistle of approval, all the attention making the younger cat Faunus blush.

“Okay then, taking back the White Fang it is.” Sun said he was grinning widely, but he looked a little uncertain. “One thing though, how exactly do we do that?” He held up his hands in peace as he talked, wincing a little as he raised his left arm. “Don’t get me wrong, I am all for this plan. But there’s just six of us here, and I guess Ruby at Haven. Adam’s pretty much got an army of White Fang fanatics on his side and these people Neo mentioned.”

Sun made an excellent point, even if the entirety of the White Fang wasn’t corrupted by Adam, he still commanded the loyalty of a great many members. There was a shy cough from the side and the group turned to a very bashful and awkward Neo, who started signing to Weiss once she had the white-haired Faunus’ attention.

‘ _ Why not raise an army of your own?’  _ Weiss translated for the benefit of the others as eyebrows raised around the room.

“Where do you suggest we get one of those?” Ghira asked, curiosity mixed with unease at the suggestion.

‘ _ The people of Menagerie, of course.’  _ Weiss petered out as she finished translating, looking nervously at Ghira for his reaction to this suggestion.

“No, I am not going to conscript my people into an army. They came here to escape violence, and besides that, I don’t have the authority.” Ghira groaned, resting his head in his hand as Neo nodded vigorously and darted to hide behind Weiss, hastily and repeatedly signing that she was sorry.

“What if we asked for volunteers?” Blake suggested quickly, stepping up to face Ghira, and Weiss shot them a grateful smile for taking some of the heat off Neo. “Ask for people willing to join us at Haven and let Remnant know what we really stand for and that we won’t let a group of extremists speak for us.” Their eyes shone with fervour as they looked up at their father, and after a few moments he nodded slowly.

“That... would be acceptable.” He conceded. “I suppose you’d prefer I made the announcements? I imagine, despite your fire of the last few minutes, you’re still rather shy when it comes to public events.” Ghira smiled warmly at his child, clapping a large hand on their shoulder as they blushed and nodded.

“If you wouldn’t mind?”

“I offered my assistance, didn’t I?” He chuckled. “We can work out the details later. I think this has been enough talk for today, and I have other business that needs to be attended to.” The others nodded and slowly they began to file out of the room, Weiss and Neo helping Sun up from the sofa, the four teens splitting from Kali soon after.

As they made their way to the living room the four had adopted as their own, Weiss couldn’t help but notice the increased guard presence in the house. There had been some before, but they were unobtrusive enough that Weiss barely registered them. Now though, it seemed with the attack on Sun and the new threat posed by the White Fang, Ghira must have stepped up the guards.

The four settled down around the small table in the centre of the room, Sun wincing a little as he did so, and sat in silence for a minute until Weiss finally broke the silence.

“So you’re really going to do this, take back the White Fang?” Blake’s ear twitched at Weiss’ phrasing.

“What do you mean ‘you’re going to do this’? You’re a part of this too, Weiss.”

“Should I be though?” Weiss looked away, guilt flashing through her.

“My family and I represent everything wrong with how society treats the Faunus. I don’t have a place with you in this.”

“Weiss, there’s nobody else I would want more to help me rebuild the White Fang.” Blake assured her as Sun crossed his arms and pouted.

“Do I not count then or something?” He asked in mock indignation.

“Sorry, Sun. Weiss gets best friend privileges.” Blake laughed, and Weiss did too, though it rang hollow.

“Be that as it may. I can’t.” Weiss admitted. “As soon as the storms have cleared and I can leave the island, I’m going to Haven. I need to find Ruby, warn her of what’s coming. Hell, warn Haven Academy of what’s planned even.” Though no longer in a blind panic over being trapped on the island for several months, the anxiety was still there, the thought that she’d abandoned Ruby. “I’m sorry, Blake.”

“You need to do what you think is right, and warning Haven Academy of what’s coming will be very useful.” Blake waved off Weiss’ apology. “But whilst you’re here, you will help, won’t you?”

“Of course!” Weiss huffed in offence, before dropping her gaze as something that had been gnawing at the back of her mind since last night finally made itself too difficult to ignore. “Blake, who was that Faunus last night? you acted like you knew her.” Blake’s smile dimmed a little and they averted their gaze, suddenly finding their lap incredibly interesting.

“I do… Or rather I did.” They picked at their nails and Weiss could swear she heard guilt in the cat Faunus’ voice. “Ilia Amitola, we were friends back in the White Fang, more than friends actually.” Sun blinked in confusion as Weiss’ jaw dropped.

“But I thought… Adam…?” Weiss questioned. Clearly her understanding of Blake’s time with the White Fang was vaguer than she’d thought.

“Ilia and I were… together before Adam.” Blake admitted, now tugging at their sleeves, clearly very uncomfortable with this.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” Sun told the dark-haired Faunus, but they shook their head.

“No, I said I wasn’t running from my mistakes any more.” They took a deep breath to steady their nerves. “And Ilia was a pretty bad one.” Another pause, this time to collect their thoughts as they rubbed their temples in concentration.

“Ilia and I are about the same age and were the youngest members of our chapter, so we hit it off pretty quickly. We had quite a bit in common, other than our age. We liked reading, we wanted to make a difference in the world, our parents… weren’t around. And we both liked girls.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You like girls?!” Sun interjected, causing Neo and Weiss to glare at him.

“Yang’s their girlfriend, Sun.” Weiss groaned in exasperation and Neo nodded emphatically.

“What!? You had a girlfriend  _ and you didn’t tell me?! _ ” Oh dear gods, how could this boy be so unobservant?

“Sun, now is not the time.” Weiss hissed, jerking her head over at the still uncomfortably fidgeting Blake.

“Right, right.” He mumbled, settling back down. After a moment of silence to make sure Sun wasn’t about to interrupt again, Weiss gestured for Blake to continue.

“We were young, we were just playing around. At least, that’s what I thought we were doing.” A note of shame entered Blake’s voice, mixing with the guilt. “I wasn’t kind to Ilia, I made her keep us a secret because I was ashamed. Because of Adam.” Blake fell silent again and for a moment, Weiss wasn’t sure if they would continue.

“Adam had only just become leader of our chapter, a prodigy, and he was massively homophobic, transphobic, well, anything-he-wasn’t-phobic.” Weiss desperately wanted to wrap a wing around Blake in comfort, the story was clearly taking its toll on the cat Faunus.

“I wanted to impress him, the leaders all adored him, and I thought if he thought well of me, so would they. Somehow, I convinced myself I liked him. I knew he wouldn’t want someone who fooled around with girls on the side. So when he showed an interest in me, I dumped Ilia. Right after she told me she loved me.” There was a sharp intake of breath from the other three at this admission.

“I said… several unkind things I don’t want ever to repeat.” Weiss could see the tears now sparkling in Blake’s eyes. “What I did to Ilia, out of everything I did with the White Fang, I regret that the most. It’s not my biggest mistake, but it was the worst.”

“Why did you think going through that, partnering with someone who is so vile, was worth any sort of approval?” Weiss had to ask, she couldn’t just leave it.

“It was more than just that. I thought I could help him see the error of his ways, that my love would redeem him. I thought, no... knew that girls were supposed to do that for boys, rescue them, help them. Save them.” The tears flowed fast and freely now as they fell silent as did the others. What else could they say after all of that? Eventually, Neo held up her scroll.

‘Do you know what you’re going to do about Ilia?’

“I don’t know.” Unable to take it any longer, Weiss slid around the side of the table to wrap a wing around Blake’s shaking body. “I want to believe that she’s still the girl I once knew, but if she’s working for Adam… I just don’t know.”

“It’s a lot to process and it’s been a long night.” Weiss reassured her friend, trying to stifle a yawn, all of them except Sun had been awake for over 24 hours by now.

“Mmm, I am quite tired.” Blake murmured, the exhaustion from last night setting in as they curled deeper into Weiss’ wing’s embrace. “Maybe I should take a nap…” The cat Faunus trailed off, and soon the room was with a soft rumbling snore that sounded very much like purring.

“Do you they’re okay?” Sun asked quietly, and Weiss shrugged as best as she could.

“I don’t know. It’s been an emotionally draining day for them, but I think they’re going to be a lot better now that things are out in the open.” She sighed, gently tucking a strand of Blake’s bob out of their face. “I wish they’d told us sooner about Adam.”

_ ‘I don’t blame them for that’  _ Neo signed, looking unusually concerned.

“Why?” Weiss asked whilst translating for Sun’s benefit.

_ ‘I’ve met Adam Taurus, back when Roman and I were working with the White Fang for Cinder.’  _ Neo looked almost ill as she recounted this.  _ ‘I’ve met a lot of bad people, you kind of had to in my line of work. But him, he was possibly the worst.’  _ Both Sun and Weiss were distinctly uneasy about this pronouncement, Neo wasn’t the sort to make such a judgement lightly.

_ ‘He was vicious, brutal, vengeful. So much hatred, and he’s only a few years older than us.’ _

“Wait, what?!” Sun asked, aghast. “A few years older than us? But that would mean…” Weiss felt sick, she glanced down at the cat Faunus nuzzled into her side, snoring gently and her heart ached for them.

_ ‘I have no doubt, if he vowed to destroy everything Blake loves, he won’t stop until he’s done.’  _ Neo turned her worried gaze to Weiss now, and she realised with a jolt that it wasn’t just worry, it was fear too.

Weiss wasn’t entirely sure why Neo being scared for her stabbed at her heart even more, but still she unfurled her other wing, beckoning the pastel girl into its embrace. After a moment of hesitation, Neo crawled over and buried herself in Weiss’ other side, letting the feathery limb settle around her.

“I’m not going anywhere and I’m not letting some scumbag get me.” She tried to reassure the shorter girl, who only hummed in response and pulled as closely as she could. Weiss could feel herself flushing and her heartbeat quickening, but she ignored it and instead tried to focus on comforting her friend.

_ ‘I don’t want to lose you.’  _ Neo signed clumsily, crushed as she was up against Weiss’ side.  _ ‘I don’t know what I’d do if I lost someone else.’ _

“You’re not going to lose me, Neo. I’ll always be there for you.” Weiss’ affirmation was interrupted by a yawn, but she hoped the sentiment was clear. Neo was Weiss’ friend, despite Weiss’ more than friendly feelings, and she was always there for her friends.

_ ‘You can’t say that. You haven’t seen him.’  _ Neo signed, forehead creased with worry as she yawned in sympathy with the bird Faunus.  _ ‘Weiss, he scares me.’  _ Weiss had been about to answer, but Neo’s admission made her pause. Neo had never said she was afraid of anyone, not even Cinder, who’d been able to go toe-to-toe with Professor Ozpin according to Jaune, and had taken Pyrrha from them.

“I have you, don’t I? And Blake, Ruby, Yang, Sun.” Weiss listed off her closest friends. “Surely Adam can’t be a match for all of us?” Neo shrugged awkwardly, still not looking completely reassured. “You’ve been up as long as I have, why don’t you get some sleep? I promise things will look brighter once you’re rested.” Neo nodded blearily and rested her head on Weiss’ shoulder, letting her eyes slip shut, and soon enough her breathing evened out.

“You know, you’re pretty good at that.” Sun said from the other side of the table where he’d been sat quietly watching the half-silent exchange.

“I just said what I thought Yang would say.” Weiss shrugged with her free shoulder.

“Well you do a good Yang, then.” Sun got up, stretching out and rotating his injured shoulder gingerly. “You should sleep too, Weiss. I’m going to see if Mrs B needs any help.” With a cheery wave the monkey Faunus left the room, leaving Weiss to get comfortable between her friends. Finally settled, Weiss let her eyes drift shut. Her last thoughts before letting sleep take her was how nice it felt to have a warm body on either side of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, nice soft end to a pretty harrowing couple of chapters for everyone. Poor Weiss though, whilst Blake may be finally starting to get better, I'm worried about her. Feeling trapped on the island isn't going to do her mental state any good. But we'll see.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being such a cutie.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	22. Chapter 22

“Well  _ that  _ went well.” Weiss grumbled as she, Neo, Blake and Sun trooped up the steps to the Belladonna house, all looking rather worse for wear. “There were four of us, how on Remnant did we not catch a single one?!”

It had been a few days since Sun’s injury and they had made irritatingly little progress in the efforts to deal with the White Fang and their designs on Haven. Blake was working with their father on a speech, but progress on that was rather slow and left the other three with nothing to do. To rectify that, Weiss had suggested that the four take a list of the contacts on Ilia’s scroll, go into town to find the people and hopefully apprehend them.

To say it hadn’t gone well would be an understatement. Sun had tweaked his shoulder trying to tackle a frog Faunus, Weiss’ wings were sore from a botched landing after leaping across a gap between two buildings and Blake’s nose had been bloodied by a surprise right hook from one of their quarries. Of the four, only Neo had made it out unscathed, though she like the others was covered in dust like the rest of them after a certain chameleon Faunus tried to flatten them by dropping a crate on them.

“White Fang agents are trained to be hard to catch. In a straight fight, most would just fold.” Blake explained thickly their swollen nose hampering their speech.

“We’re three reasonably well-trained hunters and a former career criminal, it still shouldn’t have been that hard.” Weiss continued to insisted as she opened up the front door and led the way inside, only to come to a screeching halt.

“Would the four of you care to explain why I’ve had several reports of gunfire and of four teenagers chasing people through Kuo Kuana?” Ghira rumbled, in full chieftain of Menagerie mode. The four exchanged nervous glances as they entered the atrium and reluctantly closed the door behind them.

“We were following up on some leads on the White Fang here in Menagerie.” Blake offered up tentatively.

“’Following up’ Is certainly one way of putting it.” Ghira rumbled, pulling out a piece of paper. “Property damage, reports of assault, damage to produce.” Weiss winced at that one, remembering how she got thrown into a fruit stand when trying to head off a snake Faunus they’d been chasing through the market. “The list goes on. You should be thankful nobody got seriously injured.”

“But Dad-.” Blake tried to protest, but he held up a hand.

“I’m the Chieftain of Menagerie right now, Blake.”

“They were members of the White Fang!” Weiss cut in. “We were trying to do something to help, otherwise the three of us are sat around being useless.” She gestured between herself, Sun and Neo.

“And I admire your intentions.” Chief Ghira spoke loudly, drowning out Weiss before she could continue. “But your actions today have hindered our plans. Without the people of Menagerie knowing what’s happening with the White Fang, attacking people in the streets looks bad.” He sighed deeply, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

“The damage isn’t irreparable. If we move my speech up to tomorrow morning, we can explain this as a pre-emptive action before the announcement alerted any members of the Fang.”

“But Dad, I mean, Chief, your speech isn’t ready yet.” Blake pointed out.

“Which is why, once you’ve cleaned up, I need you in my study so we can finally get this sorted.” The dark-haired Faunus nodded in agreement and Ghira took his leave, the four teens still shuffling guiltily.

“I suppose we should all get cleaned up, huh?” Sun broke the silence, picking at his no longer pristine white shirt. “Blake, you go first since you’ve got that speech to finish.” The cat Faunus nodded and took the lead as they headed for the shared bathroom.

“Is your father really mad at us?” Weiss asked quietly, recalling her disastrous entry into the Belladonna household.

“No, I think he’s just frustrated. We’re all stuck on the island knowing what’s coming and unable to do very much about it.”

“I know the feeling.” Weiss muttered, finding her mind wandering back to Ruby, as it had done with increasing frequency since the discovery of the White Fang plans. They left Blake at their room with a promise from the dark-haired Faunus to fetch them once they finished with the shower.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Weiss.” Sun tried to reassure the bird Faunus, but she wasn’t convinced and made an unhappy noise to that effect. Shrugging helplessly at Neo, Sun carried on to his room, leaving the other two to go into theirs, and Weiss promptly collapsed in dejection in her desk chair.

‘ _ You want to talk about it?’  _ Neo signed hesitantly, perching herself on the other desk.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Weiss stated, though the sharpness of her signs belied her irritation. Neo started to sign something, but paused, searching for the right words.

‘ _ I know today was disappointing, but you can’t let it get to you.’  _ Was what she finally settled on, and Weiss snorted in response.

“I’m not letting it get to me!” She snapped, Neo’s concern warming her heart and irking her because of it. Ever since Blake had told them about Adam’s threats, Neo had somehow become even more clingy, and if Weiss had been conflicted about her feelings towards the multi-coloured girl before, she was feeling even more so now. She was supposed to be concerned about Ruby and Ruby only. The girl she loved was going to be in the direct firing line of the White Fang, but here she was, stuck on this gods-forsaken island and falling in love with Neo.

Oh.

_ Oh fuck. _

She hadn’t explicitly thought of her feelings towards Neo as love before. She’d always known it was, but putting the word to it like that made it so much more real. It felt like her heart was caught in her throat, but she couldn’t panic, she couldn’t do this now, not in front of Neo. Otherwise Neo would try to comfort her, or just be her usual Neo self, and Weiss wouldn’t be able to hold it in.

She nearly screamed in relief when she was saved by a knock at the door and Blake poking a slightly damp head in.

“Bathroom’s free.” They informed the pair, and were nearly bowled over by Weiss for their trouble as the white-haired Faunus all but threw herself for the door.

“I’ll go next!” She called out behind her as she beelined for the bathroom, throwing the door open and slamming it shut behind her with a painful feeling of déjà vu. How many times could she do this? Go running for the bathroom whenever she was confronted with her feelings for Neo. She’d pick up on it sooner or later and figure out just how much of a disgusting coward Weiss was.

She didn’t even bother to try and stop the tears that now cascaded down her cheeks. Shedding her soiled clothes, Weiss rushed under the shower head and turned the temperature setting as high as it would go. Within a minute, the comfortably warm water had turned into a scalding downpour, staining the bird Faunus’ skin red with its passage and drowning out the sound of her choked sobs. Gods, she was pathetic. She’d been angsting over this for weeks now and she was still no closer to fixing it.

She stayed like that, crying softly, until she could stand it no more and was forced out of the burning spray by the pain. As she dried herself, she watched as her scalded red raw skin flake away to be replaced with pale unblemished flesh as her aura got to work. If only she could shed these feelings for Neo and heal from them that easily.

The pain did, however, seem to help clarify her thoughts. Part of her insisted she should talk to Blake, they’d helped her with her anguish before, but she rejected it almost immediately. Blake didn’t like Neo, and she was sure that alone would be enough for them to turn from Weiss, without even needing to bring the fact that she already had a partner into play.

She had to keep it a secret from everybody. This wasn’t like her wings, this could tear apart the small family she’d built for herself even more completely than Blake leaving had done. And hopefully, with time, she could excise these feelings.

It was at this point she realised, in her hurry to escape Neo and her feelings, she hadn’t brought a change of clothes with her. Groaning in irritation at yet another thing going wrong today, Weiss wrapped the towel as securely around herself as she could and, after collecting her dirty clothes, cautiously stuck her head out the door.

She wasn’t indecent or anything, but there was something particularly intimate about wearing only a towel and she’d be mortified if a random guard or even Ghira saw her like this. Confirming the coast was clear, she beat a hasty retreat to the room, not caring that Neo was probably still there right now. However, when she burst into the room and slammed the door shut behind her, breathing heavily, the room was mercifully empty.

Modesty intact, Weiss dropped her clothes into the room’s laundry basket and went hunting for a fresh set, only to find her drawers completely devoid of any outerwear. No, she could have sworn there had been one more change of clothes left this morning. Gods, even more things going wrong, Weiss could feel a screech building in her throat but it died when she was startled by the door opening behind her.

“Weiss?” The bird Faunus spun on the spot to face Kali, the older Faunus carrying a laundry basket of what looked to be clean clothes as she took in Weiss’ state of undress. “I’m sorry, I thought you’d be with Sun and Neo.”

“I was just cleaning up, which you can probably tell.” Weiss sighed, running a hand through her damp hair and tried to relax. People were bound to notice something was wrong if she couldn’t keep herself in check, despite the anguish that still roiled beneath. “I suppose you hear about our expedition then?”

Yes, Ghira told me about it before the four of you got home. Don’t let him get to you, dear, he would’ve done something just as impulsive when he was your age.” She shook her head and chuckled softly as she folded clothes and laid them on Neo’s bed. “He and Sienna were always so impetuous. It was a wonder I could keep them in line sometimes.”

“I just feel so useless being stuck here with nothing to contribute.” Weiss confessed, sitting down on the bed beside the clothes and helping to fold the rest.

“Nonsense. You are not useless.” Kali said sharply. “Even if you aren’t writing speeches like Blake, you’re supporting them by being here and standing by their side. That is more useful than you realise.” Weiss nodded silently, though the thought still ate away at the back of her mind, joining the others.

“These are yours, dear.” Kali handed Weiss a small pile of freshly laundered clothes, which she took and stood up, walking over to the dresser and starting to put them away. As she straightened up, there was a soft gasp from behind her and she looked back to see Kali staring at her in shock, hand covering her mouth.

“What is it?” Weiss asked, concern immediately bubbling up.

“Your back…” Kali said faintly through her fingers, and Weiss’ stomach plummeted. As she’d been putting away her clothes, the towel had slipped down exposing her upper back and her scars. Hastily, Weiss hiked the towel back up, but the damage was done. “Weiss, who did this to you?” She could lie, say it was accident fighting Grimm or something. But Kali didn’t deserve to be lied to like that, no matter how horrible the truth was.

“I did.” She said quietly, looking down at the floor, too ashamed to meet Kali’s horrified gaze. No one had seen her scars before, not even Ruby. As far as Weiss was aware, Ruby didn’t even know Weiss used to cut off her wings. She felt dirty and ashamed that she’d gone to such lengths and inflicted so much pain on herself, those feelings mixing in the already turbulent morass in her mind.

“I used to cut off my wings so no one would find out I’m a Faunus.” She admitted and there was a soft whine from Kali as she all but jumped to her feet and pulled Weiss into a hug so tight, it rivalled one of Yang’s.

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry you had to do that to yourself.” She murmured sadly, pulling back to look Weiss in the face. “Did you want to talk about it?” Weiss’ first instinct was to say no, to hide it like her love for Neo, like her continued anxiety about Ruby or her lingering grief over everything that had happened at Beacon. Reluctantly, Weiss looked up to meet Kali’s gaze, fully expecting to see pity or even disgust. But she saw none of that, no expectation or judgement in her eyes either, only patient compassion and understanding.

“I-I don’t know. I’ve never let anyone see them before and I didn’t want to bring back bad memories.” Weiss choked out, wiping at her now watery eyes.

“I understand. If you do ever want to talk, I’ll be ready to listen.” Kali patted the younger Faunus reassuringly on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it. I imagine this is rather awkward for you given you’re only wearing a towel.” Weiss felt all the blood rush to her face and, with a squeak of embarrassment, she hopped away from Kali, clutching at the towel to ensure her modesty was still preserved as Kali chuckled lightly.

“Whenever you feel ready.” The cat Faunus said, picking up her laundry basket and vacating the room, leaving Weiss alone with her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kali's a good mom, she's definitely going to adopt Weiss if she's not careful. Speaking of, Poor Weissy, things aren't going so well and she's keeping a lot of it bottled up and backsliding a little. But I'm sure nothing really bad will come of it, right?
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being super cute.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	23. Chapter 23

Weiss found it strange to see a massive man such as Ghira Belladonna wearing such a small pair of glasses as he read over the speech he and Blake had finalised last night for what was probably the hundredth time.

“Are you ready, dear?” Kali asked, resting a hand on her husband’s arm comfortingly.

“As ready as I can be.” Ghira sighed, removing his glasses and tucking them away. “This won’t be easy for the people to hear.”

“They’ll do the right thing.” Blake spoke reassuringly, pulling into their father’s side and nuzzling him briefly.

“You got this, Chief!” Sun piped up, patting Ghira on the back, with the chief only rolling his eyes at the familiar gesture.

“Thank you for doing this for us.” Weiss spoke up next whilst Neo nodded vigorously from beside her.

“It’s the least I can do, really.” Ghira heaved a sigh. “I suppose we should get this over with.” And he led the way out of the atrium onto the veranda, where a podium had been set up at the base of the steps in preparation. Arrayed around the house’s entrance was a large crowd of Faunus, the closest to the front were presumably press and holding out scrolls, although Weiss wasn’t entirely sure how many publications a small city like Kuo Kuana could need. The rest of the crowd looked to be civilians, a few guards and, much to Weiss’ dismay, the Albain twins huddled together near the front.

The hushed mumblings of the crowd quieted as Ghira took his place behind the podium and raised a hand in greeting. Kali and Blake moving to flank him whilst Weiss, Neo and Sun hung back in the shadows.

“Thank you all for coming here on such short notice, I’d like to address some of the rumours that have been flying around the island over recent months, including yesterday’s disturbances in the marketplace. I believe it is important for you all to know the truth.” He paused to let that sink in before continuing.

“No matter what you think of Humanity, I’m sure all of you will agree with me that The Fall was a great tragedy, one that has set all of us back, Human and Faunus. Whilst the primary architect of the disaster is unknown, we have official confirmation,” Ghira shot the Albain twins a pointed look. “That one, Adam Taurus, leader of a powerful splinter group within the White Fang, was in part responsible for these events.” Shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd, which were once again quelled by Ghira’s raised hand.

“His actions have not only tarnished the reputation of an organization dedicated to bringing equality to our people, but also that of our entire race.” Ghira let the pronouncement hang in the air for a few moments before continuing.

“Recently a spy from that same splinter group was caught observing this very house and, though my child, Blake, and their friends tried to apprehend this individual, they were unfortunately unable to after being assaulted and even seriously injured.” Weiss noticed Sun’s hand twitch slightly and how he rolled his shoulder at Ghira’s mention of his injury.

“The disturbance in the marketplace yesterday was the four of them moving to apprehend associates of this spy and the splinter faction. Whilst I regret not informing the public of this action, it was necessary not to alert these associates before we could track them down.” Weiss shuffled awkwardly on the spot, even with the element of surprise they’d still been unable to apprehend them.

“I’m sure many of you will be wondering how we knew about these individuals given they were unable to capture the spy. Well, we were able to retrieve this from them.” Ghira pulled Ilia’s scroll from within his coat to show the crowd. “On it we found files detailing Taurus’ plans, including one where he intends to overthrow Sienna Khan and take control of the White Fang.” More murmurs, louder this time and it took a little longer for them to calm down.

“I’m sad to say his plans do not stop there, the files on the scroll state that Haven Academy is Taurus’ next target, along with its attached CCT tower. They intend to strike on the last full moon before the next Fall semester begins. Trapped as we are on the island with the storms and with global communications down, we have been unable to pass news of these plans to the Mistral government. But that does not mean we are helpless against this.” He sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“I’m sure you are all aware of my… interesting relationship with the White Fang. When I first helped found the organisation along with my wife and Sienna, I wanted it to try and help create a better world for our people, one where we would not be looked down upon by Humans, but seen as their equals. And whilst I believe that great strides were made under my leadership, it became apparent that if we were to progress further, the White Fang needed different leadership. A leader who was willing to fight with more than words. So I stepped down and Sienna was appointed High Leader in my stead. I may not have condoned all of her methods, and indeed stepped away from the White Fang completely because of our differences. But I do condone what she fights for, the idea that we are equal to Humans and will not be downtrodden any longer.” Weiss cocked her head curiously at Ghira’s words, there was something strange in his tone whenever he spoke of Sienna Khan, something akin to fondness mixed with regret.

“Adam Taurus’ actions do not reflect that ideal. He only acts to benefit himself, and in doing so has convinced Humanity we are as bad as he is. I say it’s time we showed the world that he does not speak for us. Time that we showed once and for all that we are equals and time to snuff out this rogue faction and take the White Fang back and restore it to its former glory!” Weiss could see where Blake’s oratorical prowess came from as the crowd erupted in cheers at Ghira’s words. The man had a force of presence that made it almost impossible not to believe in what he was saying, and it was hard not to join in with the crowd.

“To that end, I believe our course of action is clear. We are looking for volunteers to come with us to Haven and protect it and in doing so, destroy Taurus’ faction.” There was significantly less cheering at this and Weiss felt a stab of uncertainty.

“I know it is a lot to ask, but we believe this is the best course of action. And to demonstrate why, I’d like to invite my child to come share their story. Not only as a former member of Taurus’ splinter group, but also as a survivor of The Fall.” Ghira stepped back and gestured for Blake to take his place, murmuring a few not quite audible words of encouragement. But as Blake stepped up to the podium, there was a loud yell from the crowd.

“Traitors!” Weiss ran forward along with Sun and Neo to see clearly who it was who had called out. She had to bite back a growl as she recognised the white mask of Ilia. “Cowards!” Weiss felt Sun leave her side and slip over the side of the veranda whilst she and Neo remained where they were.

“After everything the Humans have done to us, everything they’ve put us through, you want us to help them?!”

“We’re not just helping Humans, this is for the good of all people of Rem-.” Ghira pointed out, taking back over the conversation, and appeared to be holding Blake back from springing at her former friend as Ilia ploughed on, ignoring Ghira’s point.

“Where were they when the Dust companies made us little better than slaves?! Where was their help when we were hunted like animals?! Where was the help I needed when my parents died in a Dust mine?! Tell me! WHERE!?” Weiss felt rooted to the spot as Ilia screamed her rage and pain at the Chieftain, Weiss hadn’t known Ilia had lost her parents. Despite her allegiance to Adam, Weiss couldn’t help but feel sympathy for what Ilia had lost and clearly Ghira felt the same way.

“And I am so sorry for what happened to you, Ilia.” He spoke in that same fatherly tone he used with Blake. “But this is not the way to fix things.” The chameleon Faunus snorted in derision.

“Of course you’d say that. You and your family are the worst kind of Faunus, you would have us work with the people who hold us down! The proof is right behind you, you’ve had that Schnee bitch as a guest in your house for weeks now!” Weiss’ heart stopped as Ilia pointed an accusatory finger right at her, the crowd all now staring at her. “How can you trust people who would welcome one of those scum into their home?”

“I have just as much right to be here as you!” Weiss exploded, storming forward with her wings flapping in agitation, only to be halted by Neo grabbing her by the arm.

“You’ve been complicit in my people’s oppression for years!” Weiss was horrified that several members of the crowd seemed to be nodding in agreement, why were none of the guards stopping her?

“They’re my people too!” Weiss yelled, even as the dark thoughts welled up inside of her, agreeing with Ilia’s statement.

“I won’t argue any longer with scum like you who knows they’ve already lost. And the rest of you!” Ilia turned to address the crowd. “If you really, truly want to make a difference for Faunus kind, support Adam! Not the Belladonnas and their _ allies _.” She spat out the words as she glared hatefully up at Weiss. “He will bring about the future you deserve.” Weiss heard Blake gasp softly at Ilia’s words but it was drowned out by her next proclamation.

“And those of you who are unwilling to fight, know that the White Fang will do it on your behalf. Unlike the Belladonnas who would have you fi-.”

“That’s enough!” Sun came leaping from the crowd, shouting over Ilia’s rhetoric and trying to grab her, but she dodged out of the way and with a flick of her weapon went sailing away over the crowds into the surrounding forest. There was a moment of silence with Ilia’s flight, then the assembled crowd burst into noise. She saw several guards, finally doing their job and chasing after Ilia. but a lot of the crowd was shouting at the podium, and several looking up at her with anger in their eyes.

“Weiss, you should go.” Kali had come up behind Weiss during the commotion and was trying to tug Weiss back into the house whilst Ghira tried to calm the crowd. “Ghira will take care of this.”

“Bu-.” Weiss tried to protest, but Blake joined the small group now and helped guide Weiss away from the baying crowd and into the house.

“Weiss, I think it’s best if you stay out of sight for now.” They instructed, already heading back to the door. “Mom, I need to go help Dad. I don’t know how long it’ll be.” Kali nodded and made a shooing gesture at her child as she continued to guide Weiss deeper into the house.

‘_ Are you okay, Weiss?’ _Neo signed once they’d reached the living room and settled Weiss in a chair.

“No, of course I’m not.” Weiss’ voice was dull, her head now a maelstrom of negativity battering against her. “I can’t do anything right.”

“Weiss dear, what do you mean?” Kali asked in concern, crouching beside the white-haired Faunus.

“I ruin everything. Just by being here, I’ve turned everyone against Chief Belladonna. I tried to help yesterday and I fucked that up. I can’t even go and warn Ruby and the others because I’m stuck on this stupid bloody island.” Weiss’ voice rose to a shout as she listed off her sins. “I should never have come here in the first place. “You’d all be better off without me.”

“You know that isn’t true, Weiss.” Kali tried to reassure Weiss. “You’ve been a good friend to Blake and Neo here. and I know neither of them think they’d be better off without you.” Neo nodded along fervently and moved to wrap Weiss in a hug. but the bird Faunus shrugged her off and got to her feet, pacing in agitation. She couldn’t deal with being close to Neo, not on top of everything else.

“I need to go out there, I need to fix this.” She muttered distractedly and trying to ignore the voice that hissed in her ear, telling her she’d only make everything worse.

“Weiss, I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.” Kali spoke a little hesitantly, rising from her crouch and looking conflicted about going over to the younger Faunus. “Tempers are running high and-.”

“I’m not just going to sit here and do nothing.” She sniped back angrily, getting up and striding for the door, throwing it open. “Fine, I’ll stay away from it, but I refuse to sit around feeling sorry for myself.” And without another word, she strode from the room.

* * *

“Sun, I think Blake’s doing it again.”

“Wha-ack!?” Startled from his doze, the monkey Faunus nearly toppled off the balcony rail he’d been sunning himself on, only to be caught by Weiss and pulled back onto the balcony.

“Blake’s doing it again.” She reiterated, roughly brushing non-existent dirt off of Sun.

“You’re going to have to clarify what ‘it’ is.” Sun grumbled, batting Weiss’ hands away.

“You remember after that fight with Torchwick’s mech and before the dance, Blake was very grumpy?” Sun nodded hesitantly.

“Yeah, I remember. They shouted at me.”

“Well, they were grumpy because they were getting obsessed with hunting down the White Fang. We barely saw them and they weren’t getting any sleep, they were practically dead on their feet by the end of it.”

“And you think they’re doing it again?”

“Sun, when was the last time you saw Blake for longer than ten minutes?”

“That would be… yesterday.” Weiss blinked a couple of times.

“Well, the last time I saw them properly was at the announcement, and they’ve been working with Chief Belladonna to fix it ever since. Last time they got like this, it was because they felt it was their duty to fix the White Fang because of their involvement in its corruption. Now that we’ve actually taken on the responsibility...” Sun frowned and nodded slowly.

“Okay... What do you need me for?” Weiss shrugged in irritation.

“Assist me in staging an intervention. Yang talked them out of it last time but I have no idea what they talked about.”

“So what? We just wing it?”

“I guess? You’re the one who said I ‘did a good Yang’.” Weiss threw her hands in the air before grabbing Sun by the wrist and beginning to haul him away.

“Shouldn’t we get Neo in on this as well?” He asked as Weiss tugged insistently on his wrist.

“Blake doesn’t like Neo, though I have no idea why.” Weiss muttered, steering her quarry around the corner and heading towards the Chieftain’s office, not mentioning the fact that she’d hardly seen Neo either.

“Oh I have a few ideas.” Sun mumbled, but said nothing more when Weiss threw him a questioning look, coughing awkwardly. When they reached the door, Weiss rapped on it smartly and Ghira called out from inside for them to enter.

“Sorry to interrupt, Chief Belladonna, but we need to borrow Blake.” Weiss said before anyone else could speak as she strode into the room. Blake blinked in surprise from where they stood beside the large desk, working with Ghira on something. Without waiting for an answer, Weiss snagged Blake by the shoulder and pulled them away. “I’ll return them later.”

“Weiss? What are you doing” Blake protested as the white-haired Faunus pulled them out of the room and closed the door behind her.

“We need to talk.” She said, gesturing for Sun to follow them into the nearest empty room.

“We needed to talk so badly you felt the need to interrupt me and Dad?” Blake asked dryly, raising an eyebrow at the other two Faunus.

“Blake, we’re worried about you.” Weiss started.

“Point of order: Weiss is worried about you, I’m only mildly concerned at this point.” Sun interjected, looking between the monochrome pair, eyes narrowed slightly.

“Fine, _ I’m _worried about you. I think you’re overworking yourself like you did back at Beacon.” Weiss rolled her eyes at Sun’s lack of concern.

“What?! Why on Remnant would you think that?” Blake asked in shock.

“Because I haven’t seen you in days? Because last time you decided to take responsibility for the White Fang’s actions you damn near killed yourself through lack of sleep?”

“What on Remnant are you talking about, Weiss?” Blake asked as Weiss gesticulated wildly.

“She’s talking about that time before the dance.” Sun filled in, though his eyes were still fixed on Weiss.

“What?! I’ve been acting nothing like that. I’ve been eating, sleeping properly, just because I’m busy doesn’t mean I’m overworking myself. If anything, it’s you I haven’t seen…” They tailed off and exchanged an almost horrified look with Sun. “Weiss, when was the last time you took a break?”

“I’m sorry?” Weiss asked, nonplussed by the sudden reversal of the conversation as Blake moved closer to get a better look at her.

“Weiss, you look awful.” They stated, concern filling their voice. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.” The white-haired Faunus didn’t answer that, their sleep of late had been quite disturbed, filled with nightmares of Ruby being overtaken by Grimm and not helped by the proximity of Neo.

“I don’t think either of us have seen you in days.” Sun chipped in, turning to face Weiss with Blake.

“I’ve been busy, training.” Weiss deflected. It was true, pretty much all she could do was train, since her proximity to the recruitment efforts or anything to do with reclaiming the White Fang did more harm than good. Not to mention in the wake of the disastrous announcement, Weiss had been confined to the house ‘for her own safety’.

“Weiss, now that I think about it, Neo’s been asking after you a lot. She said she hadn’t seen you in ages.” Of course she hadn’t, Weiss needed to stay away from Neo lest the multi-coloured girl discovered her affections. “I think Blake’s spent more time with her than you have over the last few days.”

“Like I said, I’ve been busy.” Weiss snapped, irritation bubbling in her chest.

“Weiss, you’ve been a little on edge since the moment you got here.” Sun spoke softly. “And it’s gotten worse ever since we found out about the White Fang’s plans. We’re just worried about you.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, everything’s fine!” Weiss all but shrieked, despite the voice telling her that she should tell them everything, that it was the right thing to do. It was drowned out by the darkly swirling thoughts. It was all too much, the cacophony of voices screeching in her head and the increasingly loud buzzing, so she defaulted back to her tried and true method: anger.

“Weiss, you’re scaring me.” Blake spoke quietly and looking incredibly conflicted, but they held their ground.

“You’re scared? How do you think I feel knowing that Ruby is about to walk into a trap made by your psychopathic ex whilst I’m stuck unable to do anything useful? I can’t even ask people to help later because they all hate me!” Everything that had been bubbling under the surface suddenly exploded out in a mess of rage. “All I can do is train and train and pray that when I can eventually make it to Ruby, I’ll be good enough to save her.” Weiss paused, gasping for breath after the outburst, and her mind finally caught up with her and cold fear rushed down her spine.

“I-I have to go.” She stammered out, all anger suddenly gone, spent in that one explosion. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Not listening to Sun and Blake’s protests, Weiss fled the room, not caring where her feet took her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, who would've guessed that would happen? That speech went well though, right? Okay maybe not and things have been very not great for Weiss. I do feel pretty guilty for what I'm putting her through. Next chapter though, that's the one I've been looking forward to for a while and I'm gonna post it on Wednesday because I'm both super eager to show it off and as a Christmas treat for y'all.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading despite her making that terrible 'therecat' joke.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	24. Chapter 24

Weiss’ lungs burned as she ran, taking turns randomly. Where she went wasn’t important, so long as it was far away from Blake and Sun. Some strange and crazed part of her mind pointed out how ironic it was that Weiss was the one running now instead of being the one stopping Blake. Air, maybe some fresh air would help. Taking a left, though not slowing down, Weiss burst out of the back door and collapsed against the wall, heaving for breath and sobbing, head clutched in her hands.

Everything was wrong, nothing had been right since she’d left Patch. No, not since Beacon. What wouldn’t she give to go back to then? Back to those halcyon days when her family was still together, when Pyrrha and Penny were still alive and the worst thing she had to worry about was turning an essay on time.

She needed to calm down, but none of the breathing techniques Blake had taught her were coming to her. As she let her arms drop in defeat, her left hand smacked against the hilt of Penny Dreadful and an idea hit her. Maybe that would help. Drawing her weapon and switching it to sword form, she kicked off the wall and approached the centre of the area behind the house.

Forcing her breathing to slow, Weiss adopted a guard and moved into her routine. Parry, strike, block. There was no room to think about anything other than her movements as she shifted seamlessly through the exercise, swiping and stabbing at invisible enemies before dodging and parrying their own strikes. Pushed out by Weiss’ single-minded concentration maintaining correct posture, the dark thoughts that had overtaken her not ten minutes ago slowly faded into the background, unlike all her other training sessions where she’d been training relentlessly out of fear and anxiety and those feelings had plagued her throughout. Now she was practising purely for the sake of it and all the worries became secondary and drifted away.

Duck, slash, stab. Weiss saw the exercise through to its completion, finishing with a wide swipe to decapitate her final attacker. Breathing hard, Weiss straightened up and wiped the imaginary blood from her blade like Qrow had taught her. She felt better? Even though the exercise had driven the malicious thoughts to the edges of her mind, now that she was finished, they were starting to creep back in, resuming their evil whispers. She needed to go again, but before she could drop into her stance again, she was interrupted by a soft clapping from beside the house. Looking over sharply, she was only a little surprised to see Neo stood there, applauding her performance.

“Did Blake and Sun send you?” She asked sharply. She could not deal with them or their meddling right now.

‘_The only person who sent me was me. I’ve been looking for you. I missed you.’ _Neo signed and Weiss’ heart twinged.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy.” Weiss lied and the shorter girl smiled slightly.

‘_You’re not busy now, are you? Fancy a sparring partner?’ _Weiss could feel the thoughts coming back and gnawing at her mind, but the exercise had helped. Surely sparring would work even better. Part of her screamed that this was an awful idea, that she’d been staying away from Neo for a reason, but that part of her was overridden by the need to stop the darkness encroaching on her.

“Sure.” Neo’s smile grew wider and she skipped over, swinging Hush loosely as she squared up to Weiss. “One thing, no Semblances or other weapons, just swordplay.” Neo frowned a little but nodded in agreement as Weiss unsnapped Lilie der Rache from her wrist and set it aside. The pair readied themselves, facing off against each other with Neo mimicking Weiss’ stance mockingly. They stood stock still for a long minute, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Finally, Weiss struck, surging forward with a thrust that was easily parried by a smirking Neo. Growling, Weiss made several quick jabs that Neo weaved around, backing up as she did, Hush held behind her back. After several more jabs, Neo finally retaliated, letting Hush swing around for the side to try and score a hit to Weiss’ side, but found herself stymied by a quick block from the white-haired Faunus.

They continued like this for several minutes, one going on the offence only to be parried and countered, neither one giving much ground and both occasionally taking hits. Both had had their fighting hampered by Weiss’ restriction, but it still took all of Weiss’ concentration to keep up with Neo’s superior technique. Not that she was completely helpless against the pastel girl, having managed to smack her opponent in the face with Penny Dreadful’s pommel and landed a solid kick to Neo’s stomach.

Deep down, Weiss knew Neo was toying with her a little, but she was too focussed to really care. She felt freer than she had in months, all the worries and anxieties of the last few days sloughed away, leaving only her and Neo and the interplay of their weapons as they danced across the yard.

Eventually, as things are wont to do, the fight ended, with Neo finishing toying with Weiss and hooking one of her feet out from under her, sending the Faunus sprawling to the ground. What the pastel girl hadn’t counted on was one of Weiss’ flailing wings catching her as the Faunus fell, knocking Neo over to land on top of Weiss.

“Shall we call that a draw?” Weiss offered breathlessly, adrenaline still pumping through her veins.

‘_ Oh please. I won and you know it’ _Neo smirked down at the white-haired Faunus, sitting up a little to sign properly. Weiss had to stifle a few giggles as she smiled up at the pastel girl, hair slightly messy from exertion and a thin sheen of sweat. Despite everything that had happened, everything going so wrong since The Fall, in that moment, Neo felt like the best thing that had ever happened to Weiss. The shorter girl cocked her head slightly and something unreadable flashed in her eyes as she started to lean down towards Weiss.

“Neo?” Weiss breathed softly, was she about to do what Weiss thought she was going to do? The pastel girl hovered over Weiss’ mouth as she hesitated for a moment, before Weiss suddenly leaned up and closed the gap. The first kiss was soft and shy as Neo’s eye’s fluttered shut at the contact and Weiss hummed in contentment before pulling back. The second was deeper, hungrier, as Neo surged forward and pressed her lips hard against Weiss’, the white-haired Faunus’ eyes sliding shut as well as she pressed back. Gods, it felt so good, so right. Weeks of repressed feelings finally spilling out in one fervent, burning kiss. It was so different to kissing Ruby.

Ruby.

Just like that, the moment was broken. All Weiss’ anxieties and fears came flooding back, completely engulfing her. She’d just done the one thing she’d sworn she wouldn’t do. She’d just cheated on Ruby. Weiss felt sick. She all but threw Neo off of her and not even bothering to check on the other girl, bolted around the side of the house.

She had to get away. Gods, what had she done? She’d just cheated on Ruby. She was a monster. The words battering against her and running round in her head as she fled the Belladonna house, out into Kuo Kuana.

She wasn’t paying attention to where she ran, cloak and wings billowing out behind her as she went. All she could think about was how awful she was and how good it had felt to kiss Neo. How could she do this to Ruby? She loved her. How could she possibly have done this? Weiss ran until her lungs burned and her feet ached, but she kept going, as if she could somehow escape her crimes.

When she finally could run no more, her muscles screaming at her in protest, she took a look around and was surprised to find herself in the middle of the Shallow Sea, standing on one of the platforms over the water. Exhausted, Weiss limped over to the side of the platform and collapsed, letting her feet dangle over the edge and her wings wrap around her.

She was the worst, the absolute worst. She couldn’t do anything right. She tainted everything she touched.

Weiss didn’t know how long she sat there, watching the waves lap at the supports of the platforms and listening to the dark voices that whirled through her mind. Maybe Jacques had been right all along, maybe she was just a filthy Faunus, worse than any Human.

“Weiss?” The white-haired Faunus barely heard the gentle call, but she ignored it. Just another voice in her head. “Weiss, dear.” Slowly she turned her head to see Kali hovering nearby, face filled with concern and motherly compassion.

“Go away, please.” Weiss croaked, her voice hoarse from crying.

“I’m not going to do that, Weiss.” Kali stated firmly, approaching the wreck of a girl and seating herself beside her. “We’ve all been worried sick about you.”

“You shouldn’t be. I don’t deserve it.” The younger Faunus mumbled, voice barely audible.

“Is this about how you feel stuck and unable to help?” Kali asked kindly, reaching out to rub Weiss’ back.

“Yes? No? It’s more than just that.” Weiss answered, too drained to try to hide it, to bottle it all up like she had been doing before.

“Then what? Neo wouldn’t tell us when she said you’d run off, but she seemed very distraught.” The mention of Neo brought on another wave of self-loathing and Weiss huddled deeper into her wings.

“I’m a terrible person, I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve any of your sympathy after what I did.”

“Weiss, you’re not a terrible person. Just please tell me what happened and I can help.”

“I kissed Neo.” The words were barely a whisper, carried away on the sea breeze. But Kali heard them loud and clear, and she blinked in confusion.

“And?”

“What do you mean ‘and’? I kissed Neo, I cheated on Ruby. Isn’t that enough?!” Weiss shrieked at the flippancy of Kali’s answer and the older Faunus’ hand shot up to cover her mouth.

“You mean, you and Neo aren’t together?”

“Of course we aren’t! I’m with Ruby, I’m betrothed to her! I showed you the ring.” Weiss sobbed, shedding more tears. “And now I’ve betrayed her. I shouldn’t even have these feelings for someone else, let alone act on them.” Weiss was ranting now, everything just spilling out now. “I thought I could suppress it, keep it secret and locked away like everything else because I had to be the strong one. But I was weak and now I’ve ruined everything with Neo and Ruby. I don’t deserve their friendship, or Ruby’s love.”

“What on Remnant makes you think that having feelings for someone else makes you a terrible person?” Kali asked in a pained voice once Weiss’ confession ran out of steam.

“My father is dead and my family torn apart because my mother had feelings for someone other than Jacques Schnee. It destroys people and destroys their relationships.” There was silence, then Kali spoke up.

“Weiss, first of all, I want to apologise for assuming that you and Neo were together. If I hadn’t, maybe I could have prevented this.” She said, sorrow and regret in her voice. “Second, you have a lot to deal with, and it sounds like you’ve been repressing it for quite a while, and we can work that out later. But right now, I want you to know you are not a terrible person because you have feelings for both Neo and Ruby.”

“B-But how?” Weiss almost wailed, burying herself into Kali’s side, not caring whether it was proper. “This isn’t normal, it isn’t right.” The older Faunus sighed gently, bringing her hand up to stroke at Weiss’ hair.

“Let me tell you a story.” She began, looking wistfully out over the ocean. “About a woman named Sienna Khan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays to y'all, my lovely readers, even if you don't celebrate Christmas consider this my gift to you, lots of Weiss angst! And really would it even be The Wandering One if there wasn't angst? Finally we get some development on Weiss and Neo, even if it's not great and sends Weiss spiralling even more. Sorry the chapter's a little shorter than usual, but when I planned this out weeks ago, it always had that very definite ending with Kali. Next chapter we're going to get more backstory on Kali and I'm honestly looking forward to it.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and giving me the best Christmas present yet.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	25. Chapter 25

“I met Sienna when I was nineteen. Ghira and I were raising support in Mistral for a new movement to advocate for Faunus Rights. She was… fantastic is really the only word I can use to describe her. She was so passionate about our cause, eager to join and lend her support. Charismatic too, in a way Ghira wasn’t. He was good at negotiations, working out deals with people. Sienna, she was inspiring, so many Faunus joined us because of her speeches. Looking back, it’s not at all surprising I fell for her as quickly as I did.”

Weiss didn’t know what to say. Kali and Sienna Khan, together? It was confusing, but it did feel as though some things were clicking together in her mind as Kali continued. “Ghira and I weren’t together at the time, but our families had been friends for years and we grew up together. I liked him, loved him even, but I was afraid of trying to broach the subject. But Sienna, she didn’t have the baggage of years of friendship, and she actually liked me back.”

The older woman smiled faintly, lost in nostalgia. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how thrilling it can be, to love and be loved in kind.” Weiss nodded dumbly, remembering the sheer joy of kissing Ruby for the first time. “We felt like nothing could stop us, especially when the three of us managed to gather enough support to form The White Fang. We were going to change the world, and we did. Everything was perfect, everything except one thing, that is.”

“What?” Weiss asked, though she had a pretty good idea what it would be. Kali heaved a deep sigh, ears twitching.

“I was still in love with Ghira. I felt so guilty about it, having feelings for someone, our best friend to boot, whilst I was in a relationship with Sienna. I still loved her, but it went against everything I’d been taught about how relationships were supposed to work. In the end I couldn’t handle it.”

“What happened?” Weiss didn’t know why she asked, Kali was married to Ghira now, it was obvious what had happened. Was this what her advice was going to be? Break up with Ruby to be with Neo? She could never do something like that, not to Ruby, and certainly not because of Neo. Ruby definitely wouldn’t forgive Weiss for doing something like that.

“I had a breakdown in front of Sienna. I confessed everything to her and told how sorry I was and that I’d stop being friends with Ghira if it meant we could still be together. And you know what she did?”

“What?” The white-haired Faunus asked, already knowing the answer. Sienna must have broken up with Kali, that was why they left the White Fang, but that didn’t line up with how Blake had stayed with the Fang. She was getting more and more confused.

“She laughed.” The older Faunus snorted softly as Weiss’ jaw dropped. “I got so mad. There I was, spilling my darkest secret, and she was laughing at me.” She shook her head, unable to hold back quiet chuckles. “She explained after I calmed down why she laughed at me. She told me it was because she liked Ghira too and had been struggling for weeks with how to tell me.”

“And she thought it was funny?” Weiss wasn’t sure whether she felt more shocked or appalled as she pulled away from Kali to gape at her properly. “She thought it funny that she was going to break up with you and compete over the same man?!” Kali just looked at Weiss for a moment, completely nonplussed by Weiss’ outburst.

“W-What?! Weiss, why on Remnant would you think that was what happened?”

“Isn’t that what normally happens? One man has to choose between two women?” The few novels Weiss had managed to sneak out of mother’s private collection were like that, other than the ones where a pretty young woman was swept off her feet by a handsome Faunus man. In hindsight, that was probably a pretty big clue to her parentage. Kali, meanwhile, was muttering to herself, and Weiss was pretty sure she heard the words: ‘idiotic heteronormative narratives’, before she heaved another deep sigh and turned back to face Weiss.

“That is not what happened, Weiss, and real life isn’t like those ridiculous soap operas. We talked it out like adults and, after a lot of soul-searching and hours of discussion, we decided to see whether Ghira was willing to join our relationship.”

“You what?” Weiss had not been expecting that, not at all.

“Have you ever heard of polyamory, Weiss?”

“Yes, I have.” Of course she had, she distinctly remembered how Peridot had asked her whether she was back at the start of her journey. But if Kali was implying what Weiss thought she was implying, then she was way off track. Weiss wasn’t, she couldn’t be, it had been easy to turn down Peridot like that because she wasn’t interested in having that kind of relationship. Or had it been because she hadn’t wanted to have that kind of relationship with Peridot?

“Good, I was afraid I might have to explain it, and I do quite a bad job of it.” Kali kicked her legs as they hung over the edge of the platform. “I’m not nearly as good with words as Ghira or Sienna are. Either way, Sienna confessed to me that she was polyamorous and she’d been smitten with both myself and Ghira for months. I was shocked at first, then she explained it a bit more and things just... felt like they fit. It framed my attraction to both Ghira and Sienna in a new light, one where it wasn’t inherently wrong, but something that could be great.”

“And your husband was okay with this?” The younger Faunus asked incredulously, the story sounding too ridiculous to be true at this point.

“Not at first. He actually thought we were playing a prank on him, his best friends and co-founders of the White Fang were asking him to join their relationship. Then he fainted once we convinced him we were serious.”

“Really?” Weiss spluttered out a laugh at the thought of Ghira fainting.

“Yes, really. He’s quite the gentle soul and can be such a delicate flower.” Kali smiled, now that Weiss was starting to cheer up. “Once we woke him up and explained everything to him, he was willing to give it a try. True, he was a little uncertain about the whole thing, and really, we needed that. Someone to tell us to slow down a little. Sienna and I had a habit of getting ahead of ourselves sometimes.”

“So that was it, you just fell into a triad?” Kali shook her head, though she still smiled warmly.

“You make it sound as though it was easy, which I can assure you it was not. Polyamory needs a lot of work to ensure it doesn’t fall apart. It almost did one time, after Ghira and I got married. Sienna was afraid we’d leave her behind.”

“And did you?” Weiss asked, once again jumping to conclusions based on the current state of affairs with the White Fang.

“No, we talked it out. Communication is perhaps the most important thing in any relationship, and even more so in polyamorous ones. So we talked it out, discussed things, and afterwards we were stronger than ever before. When we had Blake, she helped us raise them into the fine young person they are today. They are as much Sienna’s child as they are mine and Ghira’s. I like to think she’s where they get their fire from.”

“What happened then?” Weiss had to know, she just had to, was it some kind of cautionary tale, how these sorts of relationships ultimately failed?

“I know what you’re thinking. We didn’t break up because of some flaw in how we managed our relationship. Ultimately we broke up because we grew apart, politically and ideologically. After Ghira stepped down and Sienna took his place as High Leader, we were able to continue as a triad raising Blake and continuing our work.” Kali sighed, almost wistfully. “But as time went on, Sienna started advocating for more and more violent means, and ultimately we couldn’t continue.” The older Faunus sniffed, wiping at her eyes.

“It was possibly the saddest moment in my life, saying goodbye to Sienna. The only thing I can think of that surpasses it was when Blake chose to stay with her. I don’t begrudge them for it though, Blake always did love their Māmā the best, and they’ve grown up so much.”

“I’m sorry.” What else was there to say?

“Oh I don’t regret a single moment of our time together. But sometimes it happens. Relationships drift apart and you just have to let them go.” Weiss did not like the sound of this. She would never let that happen to her and Ruby, never. “But I’ve talked enough about me. I’ve told you my story, now I think we should talk about you, and your feelings for Neo and Ruby.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I need to cut things off with Neo and beg for Ruby’s forgiveness when I see her again.” Weiss folded her arms stubbornly, completely ignoring everything Kali had just told her. The older woman had to be wrong, she couldn’t be polyamorous. If she were, she wouldn’t have had such a negative reaction to having feelings for Neo.

“Weiss, I didn’t just tell you about my relationship with Ghira and Sienna for fun.” Kali’s voice had sharpened and she fixed Weiss with a stern look. “I told you because I’m trying to help you come to terms with this. You are not wrong for having feelings for more than one person.”

“But I can’t be polyamorous, I just can’t. If I were, I wouldn’t be so against it, would I?”

“Are you?” Kali raised an eyebrow. “Against it that is. Do you think my relationship was somehow wrong or immoral?”

“No! Of course not but-.”

“Blake told me once about how you came to them for help because you were struggling with your sexuality, how you hated yourself for feeling like that but not anyone else.” The corner of her mouth lifted a little. “Have you maybe considered you’re going through something similar with this?”

“I…” There was a pause as the younger Faunus looked away in shame. “Blake shouldn’t have told you that.”

“Maybe not, something for you to talk about later. For now though, maybe consider the possibility that your opposition to being polyamorous may be due to Jacques Schnee’s influence rather than your own feelings on the matter. Think about exactly why you think you couldn’t be poly.”

“I… But my parents...” The white-haired Faunus tried feebly.

“Were in a completely different situation.” Kali sighed deeply. “I don’t know what happened between your parents and Jacques Schnee, but from what little you told me, it sounds like they all handled it rather poorly and it had nothing to do with polyamory.”

Her suggestion refuted, Weiss racked her brains and tried to think of exactly why she’d had such a negative reaction, but nothing came to her. “Then… I don’t know, it just felt wrong… maybe? I just don’t know. Now that I’m actually thinking about it…”

“It can be a lot to process, I know, and it sounds like you’ve had a lot more on your mind than I did when I was working this out for myself.” Kali patted Weiss sympathetically on the shoulder, then moved to smooth out some of her feathers.

“I know I love Ruby, I can’t imagine ever not loving her. But I was so alone before I met Neo and she’s always been there for me since, kind and helpful, but always keeping me on my toes with her antics. I can’t really imagine a life without Neo either.” She sighed deeply, feeling a lot calmer now she was talking things out with someone, although she was pointedly ignoring the smug voice in her head singing that it told her so. “And that’s a whole other can of worms, even if I was interested in her romantically. She tried to kill both Ruby and Yang at different points, not to mention working with Torchwick. I know she regrets her past and wants to be better, but I’m further away from it that the others, and they may not be so forgiving.” Kali hummed in sympathy, continuing to smooth out Weiss’ feathers.

“The universe does seem bound and determined to complicate itself sometimes.” She mused as Weiss leaned into her deft hands. “So you’re sure you like Neo romantically?”

“I suppose I am. I have been for quite a while now and was just denying it, really.”

“Does that mean you’d want to pursue some kind of relationship with her then?” The younger Faunus scratched her head in thought.

“I think so? But I know I shouldn’t do anything without talking to Ruby first.”

“Good. Great, even. You already have a relationship, and it would be wrong for you to enter into anything with Neo without having a discussion with Ruby about you being polyamorous.” Weiss nodded in agreement, her stomach sinking as Kali spoke.

“But I told you, I kissed Neo.” She mumbled miserably, remembering the pastel girl’s soft lips pressed against hers.

“And if Ruby is anything like you, Blake, and Sun have told me, she’ll forgive your brief lapse. That said, you do also need to talk to Neo about this. Sort out how you both feel about each other, properly. Because I’m fairly certain she’s been interested in you for quite a while, and I’m fairly certain you running away like this will have hurt her.” A stab of guilt lanced through Weiss and she flinched, of course she somehow managed to make things even worse.

“Whatever negative thoughts you’re thinking right now, I want you to stop thinking about them. You did nothing that can’t be fixed. You just need to talk to Neo about your feelings and about what the pair of you intend to do with them.” Kali paused for a moment in thought, before continuing. “Also, you should talk to Blake and Sun about your other problems. You’ve been so much calmer talking things out with me than you’ve seemed in weeks. Bottling up your feelings may work in the short-term, but they all just spill out eventually, and things will be far worse for you than if you’d dealt with them early on.”

“You’re right, of course you are.” Weiss hung her head and looked down at the lapping waves. “I knew all of this, but we’ve all been through a lot with the Fall and I didn’t want to burden anyone.”

“Your feelings are never a burden, Weiss. Your friends all want to help you, and the only way they can is if you tell them what’s bothering you.” Kali said sternly, finishing with Weiss’ wing and starting to stand up, brushing herself off and offering Weiss a hand. “Shall we go back? You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

“Do I have to?” Weiss groused a little, nevertheless accepting the hand up.

“I never said this would be easy, but I don’t need to tell you that putting it off will only make things worse as they fester.”

“I know, I know.” Weiss folded her arms sulkily, wings flapping. Kali merely smiled encouragingly and gently began guiding Weiss back to the shore. As they went, a thought occurred to Weiss. “How come you’re so good at this?”

“Oh?” Kali laughed softly. “I’m a licenced therapist. A little rusty nowadays, but I still remember my lessons. Did you think I was just Ghira and Sienna’s housewife?” The younger Faunus shrugged awkwardly, unwilling to admit that she had thought that.

“Back in the White Fang I offered counselling and help to Faunus, those who’d lost their families, who’d been injured or suffered some trauma at the hands of Humans. I’ve always contributed to the cause in my own way, just like I’m sure you will. But we can work that out later, you have some friends to talk to first.”

Weiss nodded as they continued along the road back to the manor, heart and head still heavy, but lighter than before, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last Kali's past relationship is fully explained, I've been dropping hints ever since we got to Menagerie and I've been looking forward to this for ages. I think this sub-plot might be my favourite of the Menagerie arc. Anyway, Kali once again proves she's the best mom, Weiss has been struggling for a while and it's nice to see her finally getting help. Spoiler alert, the next few chapters are going to be pretty conversation heavy, so look forward to that.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so supportive.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	26. Chapter 26

As Kali and Weiss descended the steps leading to the Belladonna house, they were met by a pink and white blur that seemed to have been waiting anxiously on the veranda. Fortunately for Weiss, who had already braced herself for the impact, Neo’s tackle hug was halted by Kali somehow managing to snatch her out of the air by her jacket collar.

“Neo, Weiss has just been through a lot, maybe save the violent hugs for another time.” The pastel girl nodded, pouting a little as Kali set her down.

_ ‘Are you okay? I was really worried about you. You just ran off and I didn’t know what to do and-.’ _ Neo’s signs were cut off by Weiss placing a tentative hand over the shorter girl’s.

“I’m sorry I worried you Neo, I shouldn’t have run off like that. I’m… not okay, not yet at least. But I'm getting there.” She took a deep calming breath, steadying herself for the next bit. “We need to talk about… us, about what happened earlier and what we are to each other.”

Weiss let Neo’s hands go and stepped back, blushing furiously already, a similar pink flush crossing Neo’s face as her shaky hands started signing.  _ ‘Y-Yes, of course. We s-should definitely talk…’  _ She shot an uncertain look at Kali, who hovered nearby, smiling encouragingly until she noticed Neo’s look.

“Oh! I’ll just get out of your hair and go call the others to let them know you’re okay, Weiss.” The older Faunus looked a little disappointed but understanding, as she continued on to the house, leaving the two teenagers to shuffle awkwardly opposite one another.

_ ‘I suppose we probably don’t want to have this talk out in the open?’  _ Neo signed, and Weiss nodded vigorously.

“Yes, that would be best I think. Let’s just let Kali get ahead of us first.” The cat Faunus may have been immensely helpful, but from her disappointment at being sent away, Weiss wouldn’t exactly put it past her to eavesdrop on their conversation out of some misplaced desire to help. “Are you okay? I did throw you off of me quite hard.”

_ ‘I’m fine, it didn’t even hurt. I was just shocked.’  _ The white-haired Faunus heaved a sigh of relief.

“Good, I’m glad you weren’t hurt. Shall we find a room, then?” Neo nodded in agreement and followed alongside Weiss as she walked up the steps to the front door and into the house. As they walked side-by-side, Neo’s gloved hand would occasionally brush up against Weiss’, as though she wanted to intertwine their fingers, but kept pulling back at the last second. It was not doing Weiss’ nerves any favours and eventually she folded her arms to keep her hand away from Neo, trying to ignore the quiet ‘hmph’ of disappointment.

After a little while, they managed to find an unoccupied room in the governmental section of the house. It appeared to be a meeting room with a set up similar to Ghira’s office, with a central coffee table surrounded by some chairs and a sofa. After a moment’s deliberation, Weiss perched herself on one end of the sofa and gestured for Neo to join her. The pastel girl looked a little conflicted before settling on the other end, a little further from Weiss than she usually would, and removed her bowler, spinning it nervously in her hands.

They sat in silence, awkward tension rolling off them as they both wondered who would take the first step. Finally, Weiss decided to take the plunge, words tumbling out a little too quickly to be properly understood, but their overall meaning was clear. “I like you, Neo. A lot. And I should clarify, I do mean romantically.” Neo set the hat down to respond but Weiss kept going, unheeding. “I have done for a while now. I tried to keep it hidden, but it’s been eating away at me and hurting you as well, then we kissed and I just freaked out an-.”

Weiss’ ramble was promptly cut off by a soft pair of lips pressed against hers as Neo launched herself across the sofa at Weiss. For a moment, she was tempted to let all her anxiety and worry drain away in the soft caress of the shorter girl’s lips. No, they needed to have this talk and doing this right now was wrong.

With a heave, Weiss pushed Neo off of her back on to the sofa. “Neo! We can’t do that! It’s not right.”

_ ‘Why not? You said you liked me and it’s not like we aren’t already dating.’  _ Neo pouted at the white-haired Faunus, whose jaw dropped.

“Neo, we aren’t dating. I’m dating Ruby, and the pair of us never had any sort of discussion about seeing other people.” Weiss saw Neo’s eyes widen in dawning horror as she scrambled away from Weiss, hands shaking as she formed her signs.

_ ‘W-We aren’t? B-But there was hugging and affection, and you spooned me in bed that one time. You never talked to your girlfriend about dating other people?’  _ Weiss shook her head.

“No, because I never thought I’d have feelings for anyone other than Ruby!” She let her head loll back to look up at the ceiling. Neo had thought they were dating? She could hardly believe it. But everything Neo had described had happened. The spooning had been an accident when they’d been forced to share a bed that one time, but the hugs and close contact was just something friends did, right? Before they’d started dating, Ruby had been incredibly tactile and cuddly, and Yang had been the same, even Blake was rather affectionate at times. Weiss let her head drop back down to see a still shaking Neo, who was signing frantically.

_ ‘I’m sorry, I’m so very very sorry. I should have clarified, or asked or something. I fucked up and made you cheat on Ruby and now you hate me.’  _ The words started to break down close to the end to the point where Weiss could barely understand them as Neo worked herself into a near panic. Oh gods, what should she do, how was she supposed to calm someone down? She knew it wasn’t a great idea, given it was partly what got them into this mess in the first place, but still she scooted along the sofa and pulled Neo into a tight hug. The pastel girl freezing in fear for a moment before burying her face into Weiss’ neck and allowing the Faunus to stroke her hair soothingly.

“You didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to. I wanted to kiss you, and I’ll deal with the consequences with Ruby later because it was my decision.” Weiss sighed a little. It wasn’t going to be an easy conversation, but she’d have to own up to her mistake sooner or later. She felt Neo pull back so she released her hold and sat back so she could see Neo’s hands properly.

_ ‘I’m still sorry. I messed up pretty badly.’ _

“We both did, we weren’t exactly communicating properly.” Weiss let out a regretful sigh. “But that’s why we’re talking now. So we can sort things out properly between us.” Neo nodded, still looking rather upset. Weiss took a moment to organise her thoughts before she continued.

“As I said before, I like you romantically. But I’m currently dating Ruby and we are exclusive.” She felt a small stab of guilt at the sadly resigned look on Neo’s face.

_ ‘I know, I like you too, Weiss. But I understand, your relationship with Ruby comes first. I can deal with it.’ _

“I wasn’t finished. Although it is nice to know you do like me back, even if it did become kind of obvious when you said you thought we were girlfriends.” There was a huff of wheezy laughter from the pastel girl and a soft smile crossed her face, bringing a smile to Weiss’ own. “Anyway, as I was going to say: I am still interested in pursuing a relationship with you. My conversation with Mrs Belladonna was rather... enlightening in a few ways. But!” She held up a hand to halt Neo’s wide grin as she started to move forward. “That is dependent on what Ruby has to say about it. Because you’re right, Ruby does come first and I am not going to cheat on her, nor do I plan on breaking up with her if I can help it.”

The shorter girl’s gleeful grin dropped a little, but she still smiled hopefully, her hands flying as she signed to Weiss.  _ ‘You really mean it? Even after what happened, you still want to date me?’ _

“Of course I do. You’re brave, supportive, and no matter how little Blake trusts you, I do and I believe you when you say you want to be a better person. That’s who I see and that’s the girl I’m falling for.” Weiss didn’t think she’d ever seen Neo blush quite so much. It was a novel sight and one she hoped she could experience over and over again.

“We need to set some boundaries though, we’re both going to need them since we’re sticking together for the foreseeable future.” Neo nodded along, face still adorably flushed. “Good. First off: no more kissing.” The pastel girl pouted but Weiss held firm. “I’m serious, Neo. This is important.” After a moment, Neo nodded reluctantly and Weiss let out a breath she hadn’t noticed she wasn’t holding in.

_ ‘Fine, you’re right.’  _ Neo conceded, although a little sulkily.

“Right, next: when we’re alone together, we stay fully-clothed. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that time you did yoga in your underwear.”

_ ‘That’s fair, sorry about that, by the way. I thought I might be able to seduce you into a one night stand.’  _ The shorter girl flushed a little but met Weiss’ gaze unabashedly whilst the Faunus choked on nothing.

“You what?!”

_ ‘This was before I had feelings for you, and can you blame me? You are  _ very _ hot.’  _ The heat rushing through Weiss’ cheeks was simply unacceptable, Neo should not be so calm talking about things like that. Really she should get the conversation back on track, but the desire to get even with Neo won out.

“Before you had feelings for me? I’d rather hear more about those.” As she’d hoped, Neo immediately flushed red at the mere mention of any form of emotional intimacy and looked away.

_ ‘I’ve never actually been in a relationship before, and the only person I’ve felt nearly this close to was Roman.’  _ Weiss didn’t really know what to say to this, Neo felt closer to her than Roman, her brother? She needed to get the conversation back on track right now or she was liable to start tearing up.

“Okay, so I think we should also cut down on the physical contact, so fewer hugs and-.” Weiss was cut off by one of the sofa’s decorative cushions as it smacked into her face and flopped down into her lap, revealing a very annoyed looking Neo.

_ ‘No, not happening. No fucking way are we stopping hugging.’  _ She signed angrily, all sharp movements and cutting off before the gesture was complete.

“Come on, Neo. We can’t do anything until-.”

_ ‘That’s bullshit and you know it. You hug Blake all the time.’ _

“I’m not attracted to Blake.” Weiss countered.

_ ‘So you can’t control yourself, is that it?’  _ Of all the-

“Of course I can!” The white-haired Faunus shrieked indignantly. “But us hugging all the time helped get us into this mess in the first place.”

_ ‘Because we never communicated properly! Now I know that you hug me because I’m your friend.’  _ Neo protested in irritation.  _ ‘I’m not budging on this, Weiss. You’re being ridiculous and paranoid, this is not a boundary we need.’  _ She folded her arms, daring Weiss to argue with her. The white-haired Faunus wanted to, part of her old competitive streak rearing its head as she puffed herself up, ready to defend her decision. But the words didn’t come, she was wrong and she knew it. Pushing back too much in the wake of her mistake on the training ground.

“I’m sorry. You’re right, as usual.” She sighed regretfully, dropping her face into her hand. “I don’t know what to do, this all new to me and I really want to do right by you and Ruby.” A soft hand gripped Weiss’ chin and gently lifted it up to look at the girl opposite her.

_ ‘I know you do and I’m sorry I helped put you in this position. Just trust in yourself a little more, I believe in you and that this will work out.’  _ Neo reassured her friend, fingers playing along the line of Weiss’ jaw.  _ ‘And I’ll be there with you always.’ _

“Always?”

_ ‘Always.’  _ The shorter girl reaffirmed, letting her hand drop reluctantly and smiling hopefully.

“We have a lot more to talk about later, you know?” Neo nodded in agreement with Weiss’ words. “But it had been a long and tiring day, and there’s one more conversation I still need to have.”

_ ‘Do you want me to come with you?’ _

“Yes, please. I need to apologise to Blake and Sun.” Weiss got to her feet and Neo followed, picking up her hat as she went and setting it on her head. As they were about to leave the room, Weiss paused for a moment, halting Neo as she did so. Tentatively, she reached out and shifted the hat a little so it sat at a jaunty angle and smirked as she did so.

“This looks far better on you than it ever did on Roman.” She took a moment to admire her work, perfectly complemented by the wide grin she got from Neo at the compliment. “In fact…” She brought one of her wings around so she could reach some of the larger flight feathers. After a short consideration, she selected one and pulled it out with a sharp tug. As the shorter girl watched with wide eyes, Weiss carefully tucked the feather into the hat band.

“Even better.” The Faunus stepped back to admire her handiwork and as she did, she noticed a couple of tear tracks running down Neo’s cheeks. “Neo, don’t cry, please. I’m sorry. I just thought because Ruby has one of my feathers I wanted you to have one as-” Her apology was cut off as her breath was knocked out of her by Neo hugging her and sending them crashing through the door and onto the floor of the corridor.

“I take it the talk went well, then?” From her position pinned underneath Neo, Weiss couldn’t see who was talking, but she recognised the voice easily.

“I wish I could say I’m surprised you’re here, Mrs Belladonna.” Weiss groaned, hoping Neo would get off her soon, their positioning all too reminiscent of the training incident.

“I just wanted to check up on the two of you, make sure both of you are doing alright.” The older Faunus defended as Neo crawled off of Weiss, much to the younger Faunus’ relief.

“Yes well, I’d like to think it went well.” Weiss said as she took Neo’s hand and was pulled to her feet, the shorter girl nodding happily as she did so.

“Then that’s one weight off of my mind. I suppose you’ll be wanting to talk to Blake and Sun now?”

“Yes, not for too long though. It’s been quite an exhausting day.” Kali hummed sympathetically.

“They’ve been in the living room, waiting for you to get back.” More stabs of guilt lanced into Weiss that were only slightly alleviated by Neo slipping her hand into Weiss’ and squeezing it comfortingly.

“Right, thank you, Mrs Belladonna.” And, taking a deep breath, Weiss headed towards the living room, Neo trailing behind, fingers still interlocked as Kali watched them go. Just one more conversation, surely it couldn’t be much harder than the one she’d just had with Neo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, their feelings are out in the open and they're trying to be sensible about them. That said they're still going to mess up every now and then since they're both pretty new to this, Neo especially. I do wonder how Blake's going to take this development, probably not well since they don't seem to like Neo for some reason, or reasons.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so supportive when I was down and depressed a few days ago.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	27. Chapter 27

As they made their way to the living room Kali had said Blake and Sun were in, Weiss fought with an ever-increasing desire to hold onto Neo’s hand for support as anxiety began to bubble up again. What was she even going to say to them? How was she going to explain what was happening with Neo? She glanced briefly at the shorter girl skipping along beside her, gleeful grin firmly in place as she pranced along, occasionally reaching up to ensure the new feather in her hat was still there.

Unbidden, a smile crept across the white-haired Faunus’ face as she looked away again. It felt… good? To admit she found Neo cute and attractive, even if it was only to herself. True, there was still a lot of anxiety about how Ruby would react and various other things, but right now it felt like the vice around her heart had loosened somewhat.

All too soon, they were stood outside the living room, Weiss’ hand on the door handle trying to muster the courage to open it and go in.

‘ _ They’re your best friend, it’ll be fine.’ _ Neo reassured her, patting her on the arm once she’d finished signing.

“If you say so…” Weiss sighed, grip tightening on the handle as she turned it and opened the door.

“Weiss!” Unlike earlier, Weiss did not have Kali to prevent Sun from crashing into her in a crushing hug, squeezing the breath out of her. “We were really worried about you, then Neo said you’d run off again and-ack!” The monkey Faunus’ babbling was cut off by a yelp of pain as Neo jabbed him hard in the side.

‘Let her breathe, Sun. 😠’ She scowled, shoving her scroll in Sun’s face as he backed off, nursing his side.

“Alright, alright.” He grumbled. “Sorry for being concerned about my friend.” Finally able to breathe, Weiss took the opportunity to look for Blake and saw them hanging back a little awkwardly, though looking very relieved Weiss was okay. Their expression, however, dropped a little as their gaze slid over Neo and focused just above her head, specifically on Weiss’ feather tucked in the band.

After a moment’s silence, broken only by Sun’s muted complaining, Blake sighed deeply and looked back at Weiss. “I suppose there’s a lot we need to talk about?”

“Yes, there is.” Weiss sighed in turn, walking over to Blake and pulling them into a quick hug before sitting down on the floor by the coffee table. “I’m sorry I worried you both.”

“We’re glad you’re safe and okay, Weiss.” Blake said as they, Sun and Neo joined Weiss on the floor, the pastel girl settling herself perhaps a little closer to the white-haired Faunus than usual.

“I wouldn’t describe myself as okay just yet.” She chuckled weakly as Neo leaned into her, making her cheeks warm. “I haven’t been for a long time, but I had to be for everyone. I was the only one left. Yang was hurt, Ruby was in a coma, and you, Blake, you were gone.” The cat Faunus flinched guiltily at Weiss’ words. “I came out of it unharmed, I was the only member of Team RWBY, of our family, left standing. I didn’t get the luxury of grief, I had to push it all down because I was all I had left.”

Weiss could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she let the floodgates open. “It’s just all become too much, the White Fang, my issues with Neo, all on top of this festering grief. I don’t actually know how I managed to hold myself together for so long.” She stopped for a moment to look over at Blake and Sun, both looking at her with a mix of concern and horror.

“Weiss, why didn’t you tell me this? You’re my best friend, my sister even, and we’ve talked about this before.” Blake asked softly and Weiss shrugged helplessly.

“I managed to convince myself that I had to do it alone, to be strong. Plus, you’ve been going through your own stuff about Adam and the White Fang. I didn’t want to burden you with my own issues.”

“Your issues are never a burden, Weiss. We care about you.” Sun nodded along, though he looked confused about something. “If you’re feeling overwhelmed or even just upset about something, please just talk to us. It worked before, didn’t it?”

“It did.” Weiss admitted, shame needling her mind. These were all things she knew, yet she’d completely ignored them in favour of regressing back to how she’d acted before she’d met her friends. “I’m sorry, I’ll do better next time.” There was a soft nudge on her side and she looked down at Neo holding her scroll out before showing it to the other two.

‘It’s nothing to be sorry for, you’ve been struggling alone for a while now and we all make mistakes.’ The multicoloured girl gave Weiss a soft smile as she withdrew her scroll and nuzzled into the Faunus’ side a little, making Weiss blush and causing Sun’s eyes to widen as he appeared to be piecing something together, although he wasn’t quite there yet.

“Wait… You said you had issues with Neo, but she’s being all cuddly like usual. Did I miss something?” the monkey Faunus scratched his head in confusion as Blake’s concerned expression dropped in favor of a small frown. Weiss had hoped to ease them into this, turning to Neo she signed frantically.

‘ _ What should I say?!’ _

‘ _ I don’t know, the truth maybe? They’re your friends. Blake called you their sister. You owe them this much.’  _ The pastel girl signed back, rolling her eyes fondly at Weiss’ mini-panic.

“Something you’d like to share with the class?” Blake snarked from the other side of the table, narrowed gaze fixed on Neo, their earlier concern dissipating as they did so.

“Yes, there is.” Weiss elected not to call Blake out, they were just concerned about her, probably. “The issues I was having with Neo were that I have romantic feelings for her.”

“Well duh.” The white-haired Faunus blinked in surprise at both Sun and Blake’s lack thereof.

“You knew?!” She squeaked, face starting to turn crimson.

“Weiss, I say this with love, but when it comes to romance, you are as subtle as a Goliath.” Blake said calmly, though they still glared at Neo who met their eyes impassively.

“Yeah, what they said. Even I noticed and I know I’m not the most observant guy around.”

“You know, you aren’t exactly being all that kind to someone who just had a major breakdown not one hour ago.” Sarcasm oozed from Weiss’ voice, and Blake snorted softly.

“You’re well enough to be sarcastic, you’re well enough for us to be too. Besides, would you rather us treat you with kiddie gloves?”

“No...” The bird Faunus muttered, wings fluttering awkwardly.

“Don’t mistake our flippancy for a lack of care about you, Weiss. You’ve been through a lot and we understand that, but us coddling you isn’t going to help in the long run.”

“If you say so.” Weiss sighed, resigning herself to what was to come. “So just to be clear, both of you knew I had feelings for Neo, and neither of you felt like bringing it up.

“You never said anything about it, you came to me and Yang about Ruby.”

“And you saw no problem with this, despite the fact that I’m betrothed to Ruby?!” Weiss squawked, more than a little annoyed with them. She was fully ready to lay into the pair when Neo laid a soothing hand on her back and showed Weiss her scroll.

‘Would you really have wanted them to bring it up, given how upset you were about the whole thing?’

“No, but…” Weiss muttered, looking away awkwardly. “It would have helped sort everything out before it got to this point.”

“If it helps, I did consider talking to you about it several times.” Blake interjected. “I was afraid you or Ruby would end up getting hurt.” Blake’s glaring omission from her concerns was the final straw.

“Okay, what the fuck is your problem with Neo?” Weiss’ voice was icy and she was pleased to see Blake flinch a little at her tone.

“Did you forget she tried to kill Yang?” They replied evenly, after they were able to meet Weiss’ cold glare.

“No, I haven’t, much like I haven’t forgotten you used to be a terrorist.” The cat Faunus didn’t deny it. “People can change for the better, Blake. You have, I have. Why do you think Neo can’t?”

“There are some things you can’t just forgive. She tried to kill the woman I love and the woman you love, not to mention she turned the entire Atlas military on us at The Fall. She has blood on her hands, Weiss. Far more than can just be washed away.” Weiss opened her mouth, ready to respond, but Neo stopped her with a gesture before typing out a message for Blake.

‘You’re right. I’m just as guilty as anyone else involved in The Fall. So I’m never going to stop trying to atone for what I’ve done.’ She swivelled the scroll around for Weis to see before erasing the message and typing out a new one.

‘I don’t expect or deserve forgiveness for what I’ve done. But Weiss did, and I’ll always be grateful to her for this chance. Believe me or don’t, it doesn’t matter to me. Just know that I’d do anything for Weiss.’ The white-haired Faunus knew she should be concerned about the sheer amount devotion Neo had for her, but in the moment all she could think to do was wrap a wing around the pastel girl and pull her closer into her side.

“Just give it up, Blake.” Sun warned quietly, tail flicking anxiously. “You’re being unreasonable now. You could at least give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“I just don’t want Weiss to get hurt trusting someone like we trusted Emerald.” Blake muttered, looking very conflicted over the whole affair.

“And your concern is admirable, but remember what Weiss said. We make our own decisions. Weiss trusts Neo and you can’t change that.”

“I’m not asking for you and Neo to be best friends, just for you to not to be so hostile to her.” Weiss looked at Blake with pleading eyes. “Please don’t make me choose between you and Neo.”

“I’ll… try.” The cat Faunus acquiesced with a sigh before addressing Weiss. “So what are you and Neopolitan doing about this?” There was still a layer of threat in Blake’s tone and Weiss was pretty sure she knew what it was for.

“We aren’t dating, and I’m certainly not going to cheat on Ruby. We’ve… put a pin in our mutual attraction until I can talk to Ruby about it, and we’ll work out we do from there.” Blake nodded approvingly.

“Good. I know you’d never hurt Ruby on purpose, but since this is new territory for you.”

“I’m still a little annoyed you didn’t say anything sooner, Blake.” Weiss grumbled. “I was in anguish thinking I was being unfaithful to Ruby just by having these feelings, and here you are, the product of what Kali has told me was a stable and happy polyamorous triad.” Blake turned scarlet and started stammering as Sun choked on nothing and Neo looked on in amused interest.

“She told you that?”

“As far as I’m aware it was never much of a secret.” Weiss shrugged, enjoying having Blake on the back foot a little after the spat of Neo. “How come you never told me or the others that Sienna Khan was your mother as well?”

“I don’t like to advertise just how close I am to the White Fang’s current and former leadership. Can you imagine the sort of bargaining chip I’d be in the hands of the SDC or anyone else?” Weiss did have to concede that point, she was all too familiar with reports of foiled and successful kidnappings made against her family.

“Besides, Māmā and I stopped being close about a year after she took over as High Leader.”

“What happened?” Weiss asked, eyes wide.

“Nothing as dramatic as you’d think. Māmā got busy trying to run the White Fang all by herself as well as restructure it into something that could actually fight for Faunus rights.” Blake shrugged. “It hurt a lot at the time, especially when she stated paying special attention to Adam. But I understand now, and it’s in the past anyway.”

“I’m surprised you’re not more worried about Adam’s plans to take control of the White Fang.” Sun chipped in, worry crossing his face.

“Māmā is the best fighter the White Fang has, she taught me everything I know about fighting with a chain. Not to mention she’s always surrounded by guards.” Blake asserted confidently. “But the Vale chapter was enough to take down Beacon. Even if Adam’s coup is unsuccessful, which it will be, he still has more than enough Faunus on his side.”

“I suppose…” Weiss agreed, unwilling to play the god of darkness’ advocate in such a personal matter. “I’d rather not talk about it anymore though.”

“We have gotten quite sidetracked, haven’t we?” Blake admitted, giving Weiss an embarrassed smile. “Is there anything else you want to talk about that’s been troubling you?”

“Nothing I can think of.” Weiss replied, starting to shift ready to get up.

“You know this isn’t it, right? This isn’t something that’s fixed by a single conversation.”

“I know…” Weiss said, more than a little sulkily at the prospect of having to work at it. “But I’m tired and today has been very stressful.”

“That’s fine. Just remember, we’re all here for you, Weiss.” Blake’s affirmation was backed by Sun giving her a bright grin and a thumbs up and Neo giving her arm a comforting squeeze.

“Thank you, all of you.” She wasn’t going to cry, she was not going to cry.

“Well, I don’t know about you three, but I am starving.” Sun announced, pulling himself to his feet. “All those in favour of seeing what Kali’s got cooking for dinner, raise your hand.” Nobody raised their hand, but there was a general rumbling of assent from the two who could speak whilst Sun sulked about nobody raising their hand.

Slowly, they climbed to their feet and made their way to the door that led towards the kitchen. As they went, Weiss hung back a little to walk alongside Blake, leaving Neo to chatter with Sun.

“Seriously though, Blake. Thank you for being concerned about me.”

“Like I said, you’re my sister and I love you.” The cat Faunus gently butted their head against Weiss’ as she stretched out a wing to wrap around Blake.

“I love you too, Blake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww! Things really are looking up for Weiss now, she's got a good support network in Menagerie she just needs to remember it. Something I've been forgetting to ask over the last few chapters, did people notice that Blake would refer to her 'Māmā' when she calls Kali 'Mom'? We've still got a few chapters to go on Menagerie, but we'll be moving on to the next arc in a little while.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being an absolute cutie.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	28. Chapter 28

“Do you celebrate the Solstice, Weiss?” The girl in question looked up from her borrowed book on old Mistralian guerilla tactics to look at Sun, who was perched on a chair, tail twitching in excitement. It had been a few days since Weiss had confessed to Neo and talked over her problems with Sun and Blake, and she was doing better. A lot better actually. True, she was still stuck in the house, Ghira had even received a petition that he expel her from Menagerie, but the dark nagging thoughts that had clawed at her mind had lessened considerably.

With Blake and Sun busy trying to recruit people for their militia, Weiss and Neo spent most of their time helping Kali around the house or training together. The older Faunus proved to be of great help to Weiss as she worked through her issues, listening and offering advice as they worked.

“I do, most Atlesians do, I think. Neo, what about you?” She addressed her companion, who nodded over the top of her own book.

Neo herself was somehow even perkier than usual and was currently curled into the embrace of Weiss’ wing. Although it did confuse Weiss a little given that, at least from Neo’s perspective, Weiss had basically broken up with her.

Yet the pastel girl was somehow even more clingy and affectionate and seemed to revel in hugging Weiss every few minutes. Despite this, she happily kept to the boundaries Weiss had set, not to say there weren’t other slightly awkward moments, such as the one time Weiss woke up to find Neo latched firmly onto her. Weiss had added ‘sharing a bed’ to the list of things they shouldn’t do very quickly after that incident.

“Great!” Sun grinned gleefully and Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

“Why…?” She asked warily, last time she’d seen Sun get excited over something, she’d ended up suspended by her ankles from the balcony.

“It’s the Solstice tomorrow! I’ve never been a part of a Solstice celebration before!” He chirped as Weiss’ jaw dropped.

“It’s tomorrow!?” She squeaked, frantically pulling out her scroll to double-check the date. Sure enough, tomorrow was indeed the Solstice. She’d been on Menagerie for two months! Slowly, Weiss let her phone drop. Two months and she hadn’t even realised. That meant it had been three months since she’d left Patch and Ruby. Three months and she had no idea what was happening with her beloved. She could be dead for all she knew!

“Weiss, are you okay?” Sun asked in concern and Weiss instinctively opened her mouth to reassure him that everything was fine, but caught herself before she could utter the words. No, she wasn’t going to do this again, her friends deserved honesty and she needed to treat herself better than she had done during the last couple of weeks.

“Sorry, it just hit me again how long we’ve been here and how long I’ve been away from Ruby.” Sun let out a soft sound of sympathy as Neo closed her book in order to properly comfort Weiss by pulling her into a tight hug.

“Ah, don’t be sorry though, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Me and my big mouth.”

“It’s fine, you didn’t know.” Weiss reassured the monkey Faunus, giving Neo a grateful squeeze before the pastel girl let go. “Besides, the Solstice isn’t exactly a happy time for me. The best one I had was last year with Ruby, even though Yang and I were fighting at the time.”

“Wait, seriously?! But you were filthy rich! Surely that meant your family could throw a massive party?” Sun seemed genuinely baffled by this. “Isn’t that what rich people do?”

‘_He has a point.’ _ Neo signed up at Weiss. ‘ _ I was forced to attend so many dumb fancy balls.’ _ Weiss blinked in surprise at Neo’s casual reference to her past. It wasn’t as though Weiss didn’t know Neo had once been part of Atlas’ elite, but the shorter girl always kept it tightly under wraps.

“Alright, true, but Schnee Solstice gatherings weren’t like that.” Weiss shuddered at the memories. “We’d have to dress up and have some photos taken for good publicity and that was it. Jacques wouldn’t join us for the meal. He never cared about the Solstice as anything other than as a piece of corporate propaganda. Figures, since it’s supposed to be about family, something he definitely doesn’t understand.” She spoke bitterly. Even if she wasn’t related to Jacques, she knew all too well family was more than blood. Yet that man made no distinction between the two and appeared to loathe both equally.

“Then it’s settled!” Sun exclaimed, leaping off his chair and pulling the other two to their feet.

“Wait, what’s settled?!” Weiss squawked as she nearly overbalanced thanks to the blonde boy’s enthusiasm.

“We’re gonna make sure you never have a bad Solstice celebration again, starting with tomorrow!” He announced gleefully, trying to pull the two girls out of the room with him.

“Hey, no, I never asked for this.” Weiss protested, feeling her face flush with embarrassment. It was fine really, she didn’t need to have a big fuss made over her.

‘_Come on Weiss, it’ll be fun!’ _ Neo signed to her, having pulled herself free of Sun but still skipping along with the pair. ‘ _ Roman and I never got to celebrate the Solstice, we were always too busy.’ _ Weiss could feel her resolve crumbling as Neo looked up at her with a puppy-like pout and it collapsed completely as Neo finished with. ‘ _ Please? For me?’ _

“Alright fine. What are we going to do?” she groaned, ignoring Neo silent cheering, though smiling all the same at her joyous antics.

“Well, the Belladonnas don’t celebrate, but Mrs B might know where we could get a hold of some decorations and stuff. I’m sure there are some Atlesian and Valean Faunus out here who celebrate.” the monkey Faunus cheered and led the way out of the room followed by the enthused Neo and the much less so Weiss.

“I do hope we’re also going to ask Mrs Belladonna permission to decorate her house for this.” Weiss pointed out as they made their way along the corridors in search of the older cat Faunus.

“Of course! Especially since we’re going to invite them all to join us.” Sun carried on, oblivious to how Weiss had stopped following in shock.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Well, since Blake is your family, by extension Mr and Mrs B are too.” Sun halted in the middle of the corridor and looked back at Weiss in bemusement. “Isn’t that what the Solstice is supposed to be about? Or did I get that wrong?” He glanced over at Neo who shook her head and gave him a thumbs up.

“They don’t celebrate the Solstice.” Weiss protested. “Wouldn’t it be rude or something?”

“It’ll be fine, I don’t celebrate the Solstice and I’m all for this. And I’m sure they’ll say yes any way when we tell them why we’re doing this.”

“Of course they will if you tell them it’s because I never got to have a good Solstice as a child. That’s the problem, I don’t want anyone to feel obliged to do this just because they feel sorry for me.” Weiss folded her arms defensively and looked away.

“I’m certainly not doing this out of any obligation and I’m certain they won’t either. But since you feel so strongly about it, we don’t have to tell them about it. We’ll just say we’re planning on celebrating the Solstice and would love it if they could attend.” Sun suggested, cheery grin never leaving his face. It was actually starting to concern Weiss just how chipper he was, and she wondered briefly if he was also hiding some internal pain.

“Mrs B?” The monkey Faunus called out as he stuck his head into various rooms, while Weiss debated asking him whether he was okay. He had mentioned a couple of weeks back feeling guilty about leaving his team behind to go after Blake on Weiss’ behalf. Perhaps that was catching up to him and he was covering it up by being overly excited about the Solstice. Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft tapping on her arm and she looked down to see what Neo wanted.

_‘What’s going on up there?’ _ The shorter girl asked, looking mildly concerned. _ ‘You look like you’re thinking pretty hard about something.’ _

_‘I was just thinking Sun’s awfully excited about the Solstice, maybe a little too excited.’ _ Weiss signed back, feeling a little guilty about talking about Sun behind his back. _ ‘I was thinking maybe he’s actually upset about something and trying to hide it.’ _

_‘ Projecting, are we?’ _ Neo smirked up at Weiss and the white-haired Faunus scowled down at her. She wasn’t projecting! Okay, maybe a little. Concealing her negative emotions had been her go to for the last few months, although she used stoicism rather than excessive happiness to do so. _ ‘I get why you’d think that, but I’d like to think I’ve gotten to know Sun pretty well these last couple of months. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and if he were upset about something, he’d definitely say something.’ _

_‘I suppose...’ _Weiss still felt a little uneasy, both wanting to ensure her friend was alright, but also not wanting to have a repeat of her disastrous attempt at an intervention on Blake.

_'You could always ask him, he won’t be mad or anything, I think he’d actually be quite touched that you care.’ _ Neo nudged Weiss playfully in the side. _ ‘I’m pretty happy you’re concerned for him. I kind of got the impression you didn’t like him all that much.’ _

'_I do like Sun!’ _ Weiss protested, scowling as she signed. _ ‘I just find him a little hard to get along with at times, we’re both so different. He’s all chipper and happy and excessively energetic and-.’ _

_‘So,_ _ just like Ruby?’ _Neo signed with a smirk.

'_You take that back.’ _Weiss flushed, unable to deny those particular similarities between her partner and the monkey Faunus.

_'Make me.’ _Neo taunted, crooking a finger at Weiss. They both knew how any fight between them would go, even if it was just for fun. So Weiss refused to take the bait, instead signing back.

_ ‘When Ruby does it, it’s cute and adorable. But when it’s Sun, it can get a little grating.’ _

_ ‘You’re just saying that because you’re in love with Ruby. I’ve talked to Sun and I know you found Ruby just as irritating when you first met.’ _

_ ‘It’s not like I _ don’t’ _ want to be friends with Sun.’ _ Weiss frowned uncomfortably. _ ‘We got off on the wrong foot. I made several racist remarks I never properly apologised for and it’s too late now.’ _Neo nodded in understanding, Weiss had told her about some of her early difficulties in accepting being a Faunus and how awful she’d been back then.

_ ‘It’s never too late to apologise, you know. Sun’s cool, he’d be perfectly fine with it.’ _

_ ‘Since when have you been his greatest advocate?’ _Neo just shrugged.

_ ‘We spent quite a bit of time hanging out when you were avoiding me.’ _ Weiss averted her eyes, though still watching Neo out of the corner of her eye as the pastel girl continued. _ ‘Besides, I like him. He’s funny and a good friend.’ _

“Maybe you should tell him that yourself rather than talking in secret between yourselves.” Weiss and Neo jumped guiltily and turned to look up at Sun, who was looking a little put out, and Kali smirking in amusement at the pair.

“Mrs Belladonna!” Weiss squeaked as Neo retreated behind Weiss. “Um, how long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” She gave the pair a stern look. “It’s rude to talk about someone literally behind their back.”

_ ‘We weren’t saying anything bad though.’ _Neo signed from hiding spot which Kali translated for Sun’s benefit before she replied.

“I know, even more reason why you shouldn’t be talking in secret.” She chastised the pair, who shuffled awkwardly on the spot.

“Sorry, Sun.” Weiss apologised as Neo circled her right fist over her chest.

“It’s cool.” Sun smiled, though he still looked a little hurt. “Thanks for the list, Mrs B, it’ll be a great help. Hope you enjoy the festivities tomorrow.”

“I’m sure it’ll be a wonderful time for all. I’ll let you three get back to it.” Mrs Belladonna smiled at the group before retreating back into the room she’d come out of, leaving the three teens to continue on their way.

“Man, you girls really do end up in your own little world when you’re signing to each other huh? We were stood there for like an hour watching you.” Sun laughed, already seeming to be over the pair having a secret conversation about him.

“We’re really sorry, Sun.” Weiss apologised again. “It was rude of us to do that.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, it’s cool. Though I would like to know what you were saying about me. Was it about how great my abs are?” Sun joked, wiggling his eyebrows as Weiss rolled her eyes and Neo snorted before typing out a response.

‘Weiss was projecting a little and was worried you’re so upbeat because you’re hiding some deep issue.’ Weiss let out a huff of embarrassment and looked away as Sun guffawed.

“Aww, you do care, ice queen! Have I finally thawed your cold, cold heart?”

“Can it, monkey boy.” Weiss snapped, though she was unable to fully hide her grin. “You’re a good friend, but you’re on thin ice for calling me ice queen.” She realised her mistake as soon as she spoke and palmed her face as Sun and Neo broke out into even more laughter.

_ ‘Thin ice! And I thought you didn’t have a sense of humour, snowflake.’ _Neo signed shakily as she was wheezing too hard.

“Whatever.” Weiss huffed, folding her arms as Sun wiped away imaginary tears of laughter.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. In all seriousness though, thanks for being concerned. I am fine, I’m just a naturally happy person. Always got a smile on my face. You know, Dad always used to say I was his sunny little girl.” He paused for a moment, jaw a little slack as his brain caught up with his mouth.

“You started rambling again.” Weiss noted, not wanting to call any more attention to the monkey Faunus’ verbal slip. To her surprise however Sun just shrugged, now recovered from his momentary shock.

“Yeah, I did. It’s not that I’m ashamed or anything, I just don’t like drawing attention to it all the time ya know?” He grinned in embarrassment. “Besides, it’s a neat story. It’s where I got my name from and it helps me remember him.” A note of melancholy entered his voice as they made their way into the atrium.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Weiss apologised instinctively, she had no idea Sun had lost his father as well, she was surprised he hadn’t mentioned it when she’d told him and Neo about her own father’s death.

“It’s no biggie. Well, it is, but I still think yours is worse. I at least got to know my dad, though I do wish he’d gotten the chance to know me.” For the first time, Weiss saw Sun’s smile fade and instead was replaced with a sad frown. It was only for a moment though as his bright grin returned moments later.

“That took a bit of a turn for the sad, we should be thinking happy thoughts! We’ve got a celebration to prepare, and Kali ever so kindly gave me a list of shops and stalls where we should be able to get all the stuff we need.” Sun reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, which he brandished triumphantly.

“I’m not supposed to leave the house, remember?” Weiss deadpanned, though she wasn’t all that surprised Sun hadn’t thought this far ahead.

“It’ll be fine. Just a short trip into town.” He reassured her, already heading for the front door. “Besides, you’re the one with cash.” Well, she couldn’t deny that he was right about her having the money. Sighing deeply, Weiss joined him, with Neo skipping along beside her as they headed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! The next couple of chapters are gonna have more focus on Sun. Why? Because quite frankly I think I've been neglecting the poor boy. He's just been sat in the background of most of this arc and that just won't do because he's a good boy who deserves screentime. So prepare for antics and Weiss getting exasperated every few minutes at his ridiculousness.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being the best friend a girl could ask for.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	29. Chapter 29

“No, absolutely not. We are not getting a tree  _ that _ big.” Weiss put her foot down firmly, ignoring Sun’s whines of protest and Neo’s puppy eyes.

“But Weiss…” Sun wheedled, gesticulating at the tree in question. “It’s not a proper Solstice celebration without a tree.”

“It’s a palm tree, Sun.” The white-haired Faunus deadpanned. “It’s supposed to be a Valean Pine.”

“Yeah, well, those don’t grow out here, so we’ve gotta make do.” Sun huffed as he folded his arms and pouted. Weiss wasn’t sure why there was even a demand for potted palm trees.

“Which is why we’re going to buy this one.” Weiss gestured to a far more modest tree sat on the counter, barely two feet tall. “It’s only for tomorrow, I don’t want to spend a lot on it.”

“I’m surprised you’re so frugal.” Sun grumbled whilst Weiss handed over some lien to the stallholder who looked a little put out Weiss hadn’t caved to her friends’ demands. “Someone as rich as you.”

“Hush!” Weiss snapped out, eyes flickering around nervously and lingering on the stall owner for a moment. She hurriedly shoved the miniature tree into Sun’s arms and guided the group away from prying ears. Once they were sufficiently isolated on their side street off the main market Weiss turned to face Sun.

“First off, I’m not rich anymore, especially since intercontinental communication is down and I can’t access my savings.” Weiss hissed, keeping her voice low and casting furtive looks around. “Secondly, I’d rather you not go shouting about how rich I am. At best it’ll just mean I get more people trying to pickpocket me and at worst they’ll put two and two together and work out who I am.” Sun nodded in understanding.

“Sorry, Weiss.” The white-haired Faunus accepted the apology with short nod.

“Thank you. That’s another thing too, whilst we’re out and about, it’s Ivory.”

“Sure thing, We- I mean, Ivory.” Weiss could only sigh, the poor boy wasn’t going to last five minutes before he slipped up. But it was hard to get mad at Sun’s earnestness, so Weiss just shook her head in resigned amusement and checked what the next item on Sun’s list was.

“What do we need rice vermicelli for?” She asked, rolling through in her head all the traditional Solstice dishes she knew, and none of them needed noodles.

“Oh, I offered to do Mrs B’s shopping since we were already going out.” Sun pointed out a few other items on the list, mostly food, but one or two general household items were on there as well.

“That was kind of you.”

“We were going out anyway.” The monkey Faunus shrugged, checking over the list himself. “Okay, so we’ve got a bunch of stuff to get that’s on the other side of the market and we’ve got several decorations still to pick up on this side.” He hummed in thought, looking up and scanning the area. “How about we split up? We’ll get it done quicker that way.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Weiss said nervously. She was already more than a little anxious being out in public amongst people who hated her.

“Hey, it’ll be fine. You don’t have to go alone.” Sun reassured her and Neo nodded along, undoing the clasp of Hush to flash the blade concealed within. “Stick with me or Neo, we’ll keep ya safe.”

“I can look after myself.” Weiss insisted, cheeks puffing out in indignation.

“Never said you couldn’t, but a helping hand wouldn’t hurt if things get ugly.” Weiss merely huffed, but did not deny his assertion. “So do you want to go with Neo and hit up the food stalls, or stick around here with me?”

Before Weiss could answer, Neo’s eyes lit up and a sly grin appeared briefly on her face, before she schooled her expression to a neutral one. ‘I can manage on my own, you two have bulkier stuff to get.’ Neo was up to something, but Weiss couldn’t tell what and couldn’t come up with a good reason to call her out, especially as Sun was already speaking.

“Okay then, meet back here in twenty minutes?” Neo nodded and was already skipping off into the crowds before Weiss could stop her.

“I don’t know if she has any money…” Weiss told Sun as she looked off into the throng of Faunus. “Will she be okay on her own? I mean, she’s Human.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.” The frown on Sun’s face wasn’t exactly reassuring, but it was replaced quickly with a grin. “Let’s get going then, we need decorations for our disappointing tree.” Weiss elected not to dignify that with a response and instead followed the monkey Faunus towards the next stall.

“You know, it’s actually pretty cute you were worrying about Neo.” He commented as they walked through the crowds, dodging the various other pedestrians.

“I worry about all my friends.” The white-haired Faunus deflected, feeling a heat rise in her cheeks.

“True, but you love Neo, don’t ya?”

“Maybe?” Weiss shrugged. “It feels a little soon to say whether I do or not. And everything’s still uncertain anyway.”

“You’re handling this very maturely, I’m proud of you.”

“I’m just trying to do the best I can without hurting the people I care about, so I don’t know why you’re proud of me.”

“You’d be proud too if one of your friends was handling polyamory with your sort of attitude after you’d witnessed the absolute horror show that was Scarlet’s first polycule. And his second. And the third. The third was the worst.” Sun affected a shudder. “It took days for the smell of rotten eggs to go away after that break up.”

“That… Sounds like a lot of relationships.” Weiss commented diplomatically.

“That was just our first month at Haven. Scar’s great at helping me keep my big mouth in check, but he does have a habit of jumping into relationships without thinking ahead.” Sun frowned a little. “It’s actually really not good for him. He often ends up getting hurt quite badly, which means he rebounds and, well, eventually you get rotten egg bombs planted in your room.” There was a wistful melancholy in Sun’s voice that Weiss recognised all too well. It was the same tone she adopted whenever she started talking about Ruby or Yang.

“It sounds like you miss him. I’m sorry for taking you away from your team like this. It was selfish of me to ask you to abandon yours so I could stay with mine.” A series of dark thoughts started gnawing at the edges of Weiss mind again, berating her for how selfish she was.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Weiss.” Sun put down firmly. “Remember what we told Blake about us making our own decisions. It was my decision to help and follow Blake, and I’ll deal with the consequences when they come.”

“Well when you do, you aren’t going to do it alone.” Weiss turned to face Sun properly, halting in the middle of the road. “When you get to Haven and everything with the White Fang is sorted, we’re going to find the rest of your team and I am going to make them understand that it’s my fault you’ve been away for so long.”

“But-.”

“No arguing. I am doing this for you, Sun. We may have to deal with the repercussions of what we’ve done, but that doesn’t mean we have to do it alone” The monkey Faunus didn’t answer for a moment, though he did sniff a few times.

“Wise words coming from a woman who had a breakdown less than a week ago because she tried to handle things all by herself. Thanks though, Weiss.” He moved towards her awkwardly, but stopped and took a step back as Weiss rolled her eyes.

“You can hug me if you want.” She sighed, and had the breath knocked out of her the moment she finished speaking. “Ack! Can’t breathe! Can’t breathe!”

“Oh sorry.” The blonde Faunus released Weiss who took several heaving gulps of air.

“What is it with you people, do you have something against my ribs?” She snarked, still a little breathless.

“You attract a lot of excitable extroverts.” Sun chuckled. “And we have adopted you and Blake as our introverts.”

“I feel so loved.” Weiss deadpanned as they came to a halt in front of a stall that sold handmade Solstice ornaments. “These look amazing.” She murmured, picking up an intricately carved piece of driftwood, fashioned to look like a sprig of holly.

“Family craft.” The snake Faunus manning the stall told her, his forked tongue flickering out as he spoke. “My father’s family have been making carvings in the Mistralian style for generations. I expanded our range to include some less traditional designs.”

“They’re very good.” Sun added, examining a few as well and picking out a few he liked, Weiss doing the same. “Your dad must be proud.”

“About as proud as any father is, really. You know how they can be.” Weiss refrained from commenting that she had no idea what fathers could be like and instead nodded politely along with Sun as she mentally tallied up the cost of the various items they’d picked out. Fishing around in her wallet, Weiss pulled out the requisite lien and handed them over to the stall owner who accepted them with a nod of thanks and stashed them away.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” The snake Faunus mused, looking intently at Weiss. “And I know everyone on Menagerie.”

“I stay inside a lot.” Weiss answered quickly, not even a lie as of late. “Just needed to get some stuff for tomorrow. Thank you.” She didn’t bother waiting for a reply before she began to drag Sun away.

“Have a happy Solstice.” The Faunus called politely after them as they vanished back into the crowd, laden with their goods.

“What else do we need?” Weiss asked, not stopping as she tried to put as much distance between her and the friendly snake Faunus as possible.

“Let me see. We got the tree, the decorations, Neo’s handling the food, so we just need to grab the wine.” The monkey Faunus looked rather perplexed as he looked up at Weiss. “I thought there’d be more stuff on here.”

“Technically you don’t need any of this to celebrate the Solstice.” Weiss pointed out. “Really, only the tree is traditional, the other decorations are superfluous. I’ve even heard that in Atlas, people are trying to get gift-giving to become a part of the celebration. Of course, when I say people, I mean scum like Jacques Schnee, trying to turn a quick lien by selling people more things they don’t need.”

The white-haired Faunus scowled at the notion. She may not be the most devout follower of her faith, but the invasion and commercialisation of one of the primary festivals sat very poorly with her. Just another reason to despise Jacques Schnee, she supposed. Despite her cutting ties with him and the company, his shadow still loomed over, even in the most mundane ways.

“Wow, you uh, have some strong opinions about the Solstice, huh?” Weiss blinked for a moment before realising how bitter she’d sounded as she spoke.

“Less about the Solstice, more about Jacques Schnee.” She said, modulating her tone but still unable to keep the pure vitriol she felt towards that scum stain of a man out of her voice. “I don’t mind the decorations, it makes everything feel more like a celebration.”

“It’s pretty cool, we don’t really go in for big celebration things in Vacuo. Not really much to celebrate.”

“What’s it like, living in Vacuo?” Weiss asked in interest.

“Hard.” Sun replied simply. “The academies are pretty much the only permanent settlements, most other attempts to settle have been destroyed by Grimm. But hey, it’s not all bad. I got to travel all across the kingdom before I was ten, and there’s pretty much no Faunus hatred there.”

“Right, a friend in the caravan told me about that. Vacuoan Spirit, they called it. If you were tough enough to survive the desert you were welcome.”

“Pretty much.” The monkey Faunus confirmed. “The desert’s already trying it’s hardest to kill us, why waste time trying to kill each other over petty differences?”

“Wish people in the other kingdoms would get that through their thick skulls.” Weiss muttered mutinously, remembering the rallies she’d seen across Vale.

“Yeah, it was a bit of a culture shock attending Haven. I got called banana breath on my very first day and had my tail tugged at least three times.”

“That… does not sound good. At all.” It was something of an understatement on Weiss’ part, but she didn’t really know how to express her irritation at these people, or her desire to pay them back for what they did to her friend succinctly.

“It wasn’t, but after I mentioned it to the guys, let’s just say I didn’t get picked on again.” Sun’s normally happy grin took on a vicious edge as he reminisced.

“Remind me not to cross them, then.”

“Nah, you’re fine.” Sun said as they approached a stall with various bottles of wine in racks. “Hi! You have any recommendations for a Solstice celebration?” He cheerfully addressed the stall owner who merely grunted and waved irritably at one of the racks on the stall before returning to the newspaper he was engrossed in.

“Any idea what’s good?” Sun asked, pulling out a couple of bottles of red wine and holding them out for Weiss to take, only she refused.

“I don’t drink and don’t intend to, ever. You decide.” She told him flatly before she retreated a little from the stall. There was a lingering smell of alcohol around it and it was starting to make her quite nauseous. Sun joined her a few moments later and handed over her change and a few of the ornaments so he could hold the bottle properly.

“Okay, that’s everything we need to get, let’s head back and find your girl.” Weiss was thankful he hadn’t pursued why she refused to even touch the unopened bottle of wine. Of course, the thankfulness was offset by mild annoyance at his words.

“Neo is not my girl.” She contested, jogging to catch up with the taller boy’s longer strides.

“You want her to be though.” Sun singsonged in amusement as they weaved their way back to where they parted ways with the pastel girl.

Weiss huffed in mild irritation, folding her arms and nearly dropping the tree. “Just because something’s true doesn’t mean you have to say it.”

Sun let out a soft hoot of laughter. “I know, but you’re really fun to tease.”

“Well, could you maybe lay off it for a little while, please? It’s getting a little wearing.”

“Oh, sure, no problem. Sorry.” The pair fell silent for a while until they reached the tree stall, only to find no Neo waiting for them.

“We said twenty minutes, didn’t we?” Weiss asked, fumbling awkwardly with her cargo to check her scroll.

“Relax, Weiss. I’m sure she’s just running a little late.”

“Yes, you’re probably right.” Weiss said, to reassure herself as much as acknowledge Sun’s point. They waited in silence for five minutes, Weiss checking her scroll’s clock with increasing frequency.

After ten minutes had passed the time they’d agreed on, Weiss couldn’t stand it any longer, worry spilled out. “That’s it. Something’s happened to her!” Panic was already starting to claw its way up Weiss’ throat, threatening to choke her. “Something awful must have happened. What if people noticed she’s Human and arrested her?” Hundreds of increasingly horrible scenarios flashed through Weiss’ head.

“Weiss, listen to me.” Sun planted a firm hand on Weiss’ shoulder. “You’re panicking and it’s making you think irrationally. It’s Neo, she can take care of herself.” A more rational Weiss would have wholeheartedly agreed with Sun, Neo was possibly the most competent of the four teens staying at the Belladonna house. But rational Weiss wasn’t the one in charge right now, panicky and clingy Weiss was.

“No, something’s happened to Neo.” She insisted, trying to worm her way out of Sun’s grasp to hunt down her errant partner(?). Just as she got free, however, there was a soft tapping on her arm. Whirling around she came face-to-scroll with Neo, the pastel girl holding it up to Weiss’ eyeline.

‘What happened to me?’ Instead of answering the question, Weiss practically threw herself at Neo, pulling the shorter girl into a tight hug, relief coursing through her.

“Weiss was getting worried because you were late.” Sun filled in Neo as he watched the pair with mild amusement.

Weiss pulled back from the hug to look at Neo properly. “Where were you!?” She took in her partner’s appearance and zeroed in on a half-eaten ice cream sandwich clutched in Neo’s other hand before she guiltily tried to hide it behind her back.

“ _ That’s  _ why you’re late?!” She shrieked, not caring about the attention she was getting from passersby. “I thought you’d gotten arrested or something, but you were getting ice cream!?”

‘What?!’ Neo flailed her scroll wildly at Sun, asking for an explanation.

“Weiss was worried about you going off on your own, so when you were late she started panicking a little.” Sun supplied, trying to gently guide Weiss away from Neo to give her some breathing room. “Weiss, see, she’s okay. There was nothing to worry about.”

Now that the panic of a few moments ago was subsiding, it was instead being replaced with burning embarrassment. What had she been thinking? Of course Neo was going to be fine. She was inclined to go on the defensive, pretend it never happened. but she was meant to be moving past behaviour like that, so she instead steeled her nerves.

“Yes, you were right. I suppose I’m still a little more fragile about losing people than I’d like. I’m sorry for shouting at you, Neo.”

‘No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so late and wasted time on getting ice cream.’ Neo tried to deflect the apology and Weiss was about to deny it, when Sun quickly intervened as though sensing such a back and forth of apologies was about to start.

“Great, you’re both sorry and we’ve all learned something from this.” He cut in, effectively halting any further discussion on the subject. “Shall we head back, then?” Weiss nodded gratefully and followed after the monkey Faunus, Neo close behind, continuing to munch on her ice cream sandwich.

‘I did get all the stuff I was supposed to.’ Neo shook the bag hanging from the crook of her elbow.

“Good, then we’re all set for tomorrow.” Sun cheered. “It’s gonna be awesome, we’ll bake cookies and watch Solstice movies.” The blonde’s enthusiasm was incredibly infectious and Weiss soon found herself grinning along with him. Truth be told she’d been a little on edge throughout the entire expedition, half-expecting to be recognised or for the White Fang have sent an assassin after her. Now that it was over and they were headed back to the house, Weiss let herself breathe a sigh of relief. Everything was fine. Well, all but one thing.

“Neo! You face is filthy!” She exclaimed as she finally took notice of the smears of ice cream around the pastel girl’s mouth. “Come here!” Weiss pulled out her handkerchief and made a move to wipe the smears away only for Neo to dodge back shaking her head. “Come on, Neo. You’re being silly.” Weiss tried again, only for the shorter girl to shatter into glass and reappeared several feet down the road.

“Neo! Get back here!” Weiss called after her partner, unable to keep the grin out of her tone as she continued her pursuit of the multi-coloured girl as she fled towards the house, Sun’s raucous laughter following the pair. “I swear, you’re worse than Ruby!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a slower chapter today and one without massive emotional conversations. They're still teens and it's nice to see them get to be teens every once in a while, something not that present in vols 4-5. And of course Neo would do something like that, she does love her ice cream.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being an awesome GM.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	30. Chapter 30

The impromptu Solstice celebration actually went off without a hitch. It was a low-key affair, despite Sun and Neo’s best efforts, but the combined efforts of Blake and Weiss kept the raucous pair in check. Highlights of the day included Neo almost making herself sick stealing and eating about half of the cookie dough, Kali and Ghira taking every opportunity to catch each other under a sprig of mistletoe Sun had mysteriously procured and Blake trying and failing to maintain composure at the end of the Spruce Willis movie they’d all watched together.

It was now a few days after the festivities and Weiss was back to training. Ghira had told her the storms would be clearing within the next few weeks and she could get on the next ship out. Blake and Sun were staying behind, recruitment for the cause had not been going to well and they both wanted to see it through. Weiss wasn’t entirely happy with splitting from Blake and had vocalised this displeasure. Now that part of her family was reunited, she didn’t want to let it separate no matter how temporary it may be, but preparing for the White Fang attack was more important and she knew she had to set her feelings aside for the greater good.

There’d been a few takers and they were arrayed around Weiss at the back of the Belladonna house, being instructed by Sun and Blake on the proper usage of a spear and shield whilst Neo watched from on high. Weiss’ sparring partner was a middle-aged sheep Faunus named Jacob who looked more than a little nervous to be paired up against someone with proper hunter training.

She appreciated being able to help out like this, especially after one attempt at helping with recruitment now the initial uproar over her presence had died down. However this led to her getting several items of rotten fruit thrown at her and chased out of the marketplace. Admittedly, several other people had helped her after the event, so it was nice to know there were at least some people on the island who thought she belonged there.

So lost was she in thought, she almost missed her parry against her partner’s clumsy stab. Ideally they’d all be together in a defensive formation, using their shield to cover each other. But Blake had insisted on one-on-one training as well, justifying that if someone did get isolated from the group that they should be able to defend themselves.

Sidestepping another stab, Weiss calmly slipped into Jacob’s guard, smacking the hilt of Penny Dreadful against his spear hand and forcing him to drop the weapon with a yelp. “You overextended.” she informed him, stepping back to allow her opponent to rearm himself. “And you let you shield fall when you struck. Try to keep your strikes sharp and precise and keep your guard up.”

The Faunus nodded, still nursing his hand, which made Weiss feel a little guilty. She kept forgetting that these were civilians without an activated aura. There’d been a debate about whether they should activate the auras of the militia and it was one they hadn’t resolved yet. So for now, the three hunters-in-training and ex-criminal had to pull their punches quite substantially.

“You want to go again?” She asked, getting more concerned by how the man was holding his wrist. Gods, maybe she’d broken his wrist by accident. Sheathing Penny Dreadful, she approached again. “Can you let me see?” The man nodded and extended his arm for Weiss to have a proper look. First aid classes had been mandatory at Beacon. Unfortunately, it had been taught by Professor Port and most of the lessons had slipped through Weiss’ mind, leaving nothing behind.

She gently took Jacob’s wrist and inspected it. “How much does it hurt?”

“Aches quite a bit.” He grunted as Weiss let him go, thankfully nothing felt out of place or broken.

“You should be fine, it’ll probably have a nasty bruise though. Sorry about that.” She apologised sheepishly but the ram Faunus waved it off.

“It’ll heal soon enough, knowing how hard you hunters can hit, I’m glad it’s only a bruise.” He chuckled painfully, stripping off his shield and making his way over to the weapons rack they’d set up, Weiss collecting the spear and following after him.

“I still should have been more careful.”

“I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for with this.” Weiss wasn’t exactly reassured by Jacob’s words as they racked his weapons.

“I’m going to head home and ice this. Hopefully it’ll be better by the next training session. I’ll see you then, Miss Schnee.” Raising his good hand in farewell, he made his way around the side of the house and back towards the city, as Weiss sighed and trudged back towards the rest of the group.

A soft thump and tap at her elbow alerted Weiss to the presence of Neo and she turned to see what the shorter girl wanted.  _ ‘Hey, what happened there? Do I need to introduce that guy to Hush?’  _ Weiss shook her head as Neo twirled the parasol rested on her shoulder. She’d be lying if she said she was totally fine with how eager Neo was to inflict violence upon people she thought were threatening her. Truth be told, the extreme level of protectiveness reminded her of Yang whenever her temper got the better of her, although Neo’s anger was always cold, as opposed to Yang’s fiery rage.

“No, it’s fine. I didn’t hold back enough and managed to bruise up his wrist.” Weiss told the multi-coloured girl, who relaxed her grip on Hush.

_ ‘I did say we should just activate their auras.’  _ She signed in annoyance and Weiss rolled her eyes.

“I remember, just like I remember making the point none of us have the requisite training to activate other people’s auras. And you said it yourself, it takes a lot of training and will to activate it yourself.” Neo just shrugged as Weiss reiterated the debate they’d had a few days ago.

_ ‘If I could activate my own aura when I was thirteen, this lot should be able to do it no problem.’ _

“You have freely admitted that you had a very difficult childhood.” Weiss frowned at Neo. “I think you’re holding these people up to an unrealistic standard.” Neo only shrugged in response. Weiss rolled her eyes and made her way over to Blake, who was instructing a young woman with a smattering of scales across her cheeks. “Blake! Jacob’s calling it a day, his wrist got injured.”

“Is he going to be okay?” They asked in concern, quickly disarming their opponent in order to focus on Weiss.

“Just a bruise.” Weiss shuffled awkwardly, very much aware that, once again, she’d managed to sabotage their efforts. “It was an accident.”

“I know, Weiss.” Blake reassured their friend, though their eyes narrowed ever so slightly as Neo trotted up. “I’m sure Jacob will be fine and doesn’t blame you.”

“Maybe it would be best if I trained on my own for a bit.” Weiss suggested, the cat Faunus’ words not quite relieving her of all her guilt.

“If that’s what you want to do, then sure.” Blake agreed a little reluctantly, clearly a little put out that their words hadn’t had quite the desired effect. With Blake’s approval, Weiss walked away from the group, Neo in tow, and came to a halt in an empty section of the makeshift training grounds.

“You know, I’ll be fine on my own.” Weiss told her companion as she drew Penny Dreadful and began swinging it in practised arcs. “I don’t need a partner for this.”

_ ‘I know, but I like watching you.’  _ Neo grinned cheekily as she continued.  _ ‘It’s what attracted me to you in the first place.’ _

“And here I was thinking it was because I was your ticket to Mistral.” It really was quite adorable the way Neo’s cheeks would puff out exaggeratedly whenever she was mildly annoyed by something.

_ ‘I just find pretty ladies fighting sexy, okay?’  _ That was something Weiss was starting to get used to, now that their feelings were out in the open. Neo was far more relaxed about expressing her attraction to Weiss and what she liked in her partners. It was a bit of an adjustment to say the least. It wasn’t really something she and Ruby had talked about, and certainly not in sexual terms like Neo would.

Swallowing hard, Weiss returned her attention to Penny Dreadful and continued going through the motions of one of her routines. She needed to focus. She’d set herself the goal of mastering summoning before she left the island. She’d tried several times since the Deathstalker attack, but to no avail. It felt so close, but there was something holding it back. Not to mention she still hadn’t worked out why her summons were different to Winter’s.

Finishing the routine with a flourish of her blade, she raised it up high and stabbed it into the ground as Winter had taught her. She watched as her aura manifested into the spinning snowflake design of her summoning circle, complete with sword sigils as she concentrated on her Arma Gigas. She’d done it on purpose before, she could do it again.

The glyph spun faster and faster, the knight reaching out, pushing against the barrier as it did every other time. She couldn’t pour more aura into it, it would explode, but she had no idea what else she could do to make it work. Sighing in defeat, she let the glyph fade and she withdrew Penny Dreadful from the ground.

“Hey, Weiss. You uh, doing okay there?” Sun asked, and Weiss turned to face him where he stood beside Neo, watching with interest.

“I’m doing fine thank you, Sun.” She told him, stowing Penny Dreadful.

“Were you trying to do that summoning thing again?”

“Trying being the operative word.” She grumbled, put out by failing yet again. “I’ve done it four times now, and one of them was actually on purpose, but for some reason I’m still incapable of summoning outside of battle.” Neo looked on in concern as Weiss walked over, rolling out her joints. “I don’t even know what I’m doing wrong. Blake suggested that my semblance doesn’t work exactly like my sister’s so I’m trying different techniques, but nothing seems to be working.”

Sun scratched the back of his head in confusion. “Well, I’m not sure I’ll be much of a help. Via Sun works pretty simple. But I believe in you, you’ve gotten loads stronger and I’m sure you’ll keep doing so!” Neo snorted about halfway through Sun’s cheesy declaration and held up her scroll, trying to hold back wheezy giggles.

‘Via Sun? That has got to be the worst name for a semblance I’ve ever heard!’ Sun scowled down at the pastel girl, folding his arms.

“Oh? And I guess Overactive Imagination is much better?”

‘I’ll have you know that at least Overactive Imagination tells you what my semblance does.’

“No it doesn’t! It might just mean you’ve got you head in the clouds.” Weiss wasn’t really paying attention to the argument. Something in Sun’s words of encouragement sparked a memory and set the gears turning in Weiss’ head.

“Sun, you’re a genius!” She cried out, pulling the monkey Faunus into a tight hug.

“I’m a what?” He asked, sounding utterly perplexed as she spun around and raised her hand, not bothering with her sword. Winter had told her she needed to remember how she’d pushed past her limits to defeat her past foes. But that wasn’t who Weiss was, she didn’t rest on the laurels of her past victories, she kept striving to be better, stronger. Whether it be because other people were relying on her or because she wanted to be able to stand by Ruby’s side, she was always pushing forward and getting stronger.

She felt her aura pulse down her left arm and saw the glyph form as she gave her need to be better, the form of the Arma Gigas. Instead of an indistinct form trying to push its way out of the glyph, two fully formed arms burst out and pulled forth the brilliant white shining knight, which kneeled in deference to Weiss as the glyph faded away.

“I-I did it…” Weiss stood, stunned as she looked at the hulking summon that knelt before her. “I actually did it.”

“See?! I told you, you could do it!” Sun crowed as he jogged up beside her to look at the Arma Gigas. “It looks different to the one that killed the Deathstalker, that one was on fire.” He wasn’t wrong, the summon before them looked identical to one of Winter’s, and Weiss had no idea why.

“Yes, that's still a mystery to me. But I did it!” After weeks and months of trying, she’d done it. Now she had to test it out properly, and she knew just who to try it with.

“Say, Neo.” Weiss turned to face the pastel girl, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling charmingly. “You know how you said you find pretty ladies fighting sexy?”

_ ‘No, no no no.’  _ Neo started backing up as she shook her head.

“Come on, Neo. For me?” Weiss could tell Neo was conflicted as she halted her retreat before her shoulders slumped theatrically.

_ ‘Fine. For you, snowflake.’  _ The multi-coloured girl snapped her parasol closed and readied herself as Weiss did the same, blushing a little at the term of endearment. Her Arma Gigas rose to its feet and readied its greatsword.

“Sun, if you’d do the honours?” The monkey Faunus nodded, looking on with interest at the two girls sizing each other up.

“Three, two, one. Begin!” He called out and promptly dove aside as the knight charged forward, shattering Neo’s illusion as the real girl spun in from Weiss’ right and was blocked by Lilie.

“You’re getting faster.” Weiss commented, pushing Neo back with a shove and pursued, swinging Penny Dreadful and taking advantage of her slightly greater reach. “But your tactics are still the same.”

Neo’s only response was a dignified middle finger before she was forced to backflip over the Arma Gigas’ sword, free hand holding her hat in place as she popped back up. Grinning gleefully, Weiss, spun the chambers of Lilie and hurled a quick fireball at her partner, who flipped open Hush to block and weaved back around the construct’s blows.

It didn’t feel quite as smooth as fighting alongside any of Team RWBY, or even Neo. The summon followed her commands but it still seemed to have a degree of independence, and Weiss occasionally found herself having to quick step out of the way of the Arma Gigas’ feet. Nonetheless, the fight was a lot more even that the last time they’d fought. Neo was more on the defensive this time around, but she’d very quickly determined that fighting the summon was pointless and continued to focus her attacks on Weiss.

“Come on, süẞe.” Neo growled at Weiss’ teasing, having spent a couple of months with Neo, Weiss was starting to see the appeal of taunting your opponent. It did, however, seem to incite Neo to up her game, and Weiss found herself frantically blocking a flurry of blows that was only halted by the Arma Gigas coming to her defence, grabbing Neo by the collar and tossing her across the battlefield, where she floated down and landed gently.

The summon was about to charge, but Weiss commanded it to halt for now. Both girls were breathing heavily and had matching grins on their faces. They were about to re-enter the fray when a sharp voice rang out.

“Are you two done flirting yet?” The pair started and looked over at Blake, who was stood with a group of awed recruits, looking on and tapping their foot.

“We weren’t flirting!” Weiss protested indignantly as Neo shrugged and signed over at Weiss.

_ ‘They aren’t wrong, snowflake.’ _

“Okay, maybe we need to add pet names to the list of boundaries.” Weiss added quickly as she flushed red again.

_ ‘Oh really, and what was it you called me just now? Susse or something?’  _ Neo smirked evilly at Weiss who blushed even harder.

“I got caught up in the moment.”

“Alright, I think you two should cool off.” Blake interrupted again, starting to herd the students back to their positions as Sun joined them, still looking a little shaken after nearly getting trampled. “Oh, and Weiss, I’m glad you worked out how to summon.” Weiss nodded in thanks to the cat Faunus and walked over to Neo.

“If Blake hadn’t interrupted, I would have won.” The pastel girl let out a huff of skeptical amusement at the assertion.

_ ‘Please, we both know I’m better than you at combat.’  _ Weiss only rolled her eyes.

“Whatever you say.” She shook her head as she turned to her Arma Gigas and bowed politely to dismiss it. “Either way, I’d say this was a pretty good day.” Neo nodded in agreement as they watched the motes of light forming the knight drifted away, leaving the pair hand in hand in the waning afternoon light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last Weiss finally learns how her summoning works, or at least half of it and finally paying off the foreshadowing I've been slipping into her previous attempts. And no matter what Weiss says, she and Neo were 100% flirting when they fought.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and putting up with me when I get insecure.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	31. Chapter 31

“So there we are, all four of us crammed into this tree, surrounded by a herd of Boarbatusks and trying to work out what the hell we’re going to do. Then Sage suddenly just swears and says he forgot to turn the stove off before we left.”

“You’re joking!” Weiss snorted, trying not to spill her soup everywhere as she stared at Sun, gobsmacked, an expression that was mirrored around the table.

“Nope, Sage has weird priorities sometimes. I’ll say though, you’re taking this better than Scarlet. He nearly went ballistic, screaming about how we were in the middle of a life or death situation and he was worried about the stove.”

“Oh, wow.” Blake looked rather stunned by Sun’s account of his team’s first training mission.

“It gets worse, ‘cause whilst Scarlet’s laying into Sage, Neptune just bursts out laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing is so Scarlet starts having a go at him as well. Meanwhile I’m freaking out trying to work out how we’re going to get out of this. It was nuts.”

“It sounds like it was a very intense and stressful situation.” Kali seemed far more concerned about the whole incident compared to the others at the table, who were busy trying not to laugh, Sun included.

“It’s alright, Mrs B. We had a good laugh about it later and we got closer as a team because of it. Sure, it wasn’t all that funny at the time, but hindsight’s 20/20 and all.” The monkey Faunus paused in thought and a sly grin crossed his face. “Actually, we did almost break up as a team at the very end.”

“Oh no, what happened?” Kali didn’t seem to notice the grin on Sun’s face as he finished his story.

“Once we got back to the dorms, Scarlet said he had to go check on something. He came back about a minute later screaming that the stove wasn’t even on in the first place and Sage had put him through all that stress for nothing!” That was the last straw and everyone around the table burst into laughter, Ghira’s booming laugh drowning out the others as Neo nearly fell off her chair with all her wheezing. Even Kali cracked a smile and started chuckling along.

“I think you’ve got Team RWBY beat for most ridiculous thing that’s happened on a mission.” Weiss eventually managed to speak, wiping away tears of laughter.

“I don’t know, Weiss.” Blake chipped in, not laughing quite as hard as the others. “I think you and Ruby riding a Nevermore halfway across the Emerald Forest has got to be up there.”

“I still have no idea how Ruby got us up there...” All Weiss could remember of the event was a swirl of rose petals and a cry of ‘Here, birdy birdy!’.

“You what?!” Sun gaped around a mouth of half-chewed noodles until Blake placed a hand under his mouth and closed it politely.

“It was nothing, really. On the way here Neo played hopscotch on a flock of them.”

_ ‘I don’t have a gun, what else was I supposed to do? Make rude signs at them?’ _Weiss translated for the rest of the table and drawing another collective chuckle.

“You do it enough to the rest of us when you think we aren’t looking.” Sun commented dryly, Neo glaring at him and performing one of her many aforementioned rude gestures.

“Language.” Kali chided the pastel girl, who apologised quickly and returned to her noodles, suitably chastised.

“You know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a reunion dinner this lively.” Ghira commented in between bites of the few remaining bits of the yusheng that his wife, child and Weiss eyed with envy. “Back in the White Fang, those of us that celebrated the Mistralian new year would all get together for a big group meal like this, except there’d be at least thirty of us.” His smile grew wistful for a moment. “It’s good, having the house full like this.”

“It is.” Kali agreed, scooping more vegetables onto Neo’s plate despite the diminutive girl’s silent protests. Weiss had spent the day helping prepare the meal alongside Kali and Blake, the two cat Faunus exchanging their usual dark attire for the customary bright reds and golds of the occasion. The summer storms had passed a couple of weeks ago and the ships to the other continents would be returning any day now, but Weiss was glad she’d been able to experience a proper reunion dinner. Not that Yang and Ren’s rather impromptu celebration last year had been inadequate, but there was something special about this one that Weiss couldn’t quite put her finger on.

As Weiss contemplated this, there was a polite knock at the door. Kali and Ghira exchanged puzzled glances before Ghira called out for the person to enter. The door swung open to reveal the captain of the Menagerie guard, Saber or something, who walked in and stood awkwardly to attention.

“Saber? Is something wrong?” Ghira asked, worry lacing his tone as he prepared to stand.

“No, Chief. I have some important information for you.” The man took a deep breath before continuing. “The first ship from Anima arrived less than an hour ago.”

“Well, that’s good news, I was worried some families would have to be apart on the eve. But surely that wasn’t important enough to interrupt our meal?”

“No, sir. There was also news from the White Fang.” At the utterance of those words, the previously cheerful atmosphere turned tense. Blake’s ears flattened against their head and Weiss felt her wings start to flex of their own accord. “They say that Sienna Khan was assassinated by a Human hunter, and that Adam Taurus has taken her place as High Leader.” Saber paused, shuffling uncomfortably and looking deeply troubled to be the bearer of such bad news. “I’m so sorry, Sir, Ma’am.”

Silence fell over the table and the only sound was that of Ghira’s deep measured breaths. “Thank you, Saber. You are dismissed.” Kali instructed the guard, curter than she usually would, but the man made no fuss about and hurriedly bowed and left the room. Weiss looked to Neo and Sun, wondering if they too should leave.

Her train of thought was interrupted however by a loud crunching, splintering sound, and Weiss saw that Ghira’s fingernails had extended into long claws that dug deep into the table and there was a low rumbling emanating from his chest.

“I’ll kill him.” The Chief growled through gritted teeth. “I’ll have his head.”

“Ghira!” Kali gasped, rising from her seat and darting round to her husband’s side.

“He killed our Sienna! After everything he did to the White Fang, to Beacon, to our child, now he takes her from us as well!” Everyone in the room could feel the barely suppressed rage rolling off the man and she was sorely tempted to flee the room. Blake meanwhile had drawn in upon themselves, tucking their chin into their knees and letting out a low keening sound as tears trailed down their face.

“Darling, I know.” Kali spoke to Ghira and Weiss could hear the tears in the older woman’s voice. “I know.” It was Team JNPR all over again, and once again Weiss was seized by the need to say something, anything to comfort the grieving family.

“I’m sorry.” She murmured, unable to think of anything else she could say. “I’m so so sorry.”

* * *

“Blake, not that I’m opposed to going out into town with you, but where are we going and why couldn’t Neo come?” Weiss asked as she followed the cat Faunus through a district of Kuo Kuana she hadn’t visited before. It had been several days since the reunion dinner and the terrible news about Sienna Khan. Weiss and Neo had originally intended to leave on the first ship they could get, but they’d both agreed they should stay for a little while longer. 

It felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over the Belladonna house. Blake had redoubled their efforts to recruit more people for the militia, Ghira would usually retreat to his study and Kali was incredibly subdued whenever someone ran into her. Sun, Weiss and Neo tried their best to help, but there was only so much they could do.

“We’re going to the temple, and Neo’s not here because I wanted this to be private, but I didn’t think I could do this alone.” Blake always sounded choked up whenever they spoke nowadays, like they could burst into tears at any moment. And indeed they had done on a few occasions, and it was accompanied by either a deep depression or screaming rage at Adam. “I’m going to pay my respects to Māmā.”

“Is the temple devoted to the Mistralian Pantheon?” Weiss asked quietly as they made their way through the residential streets, remembering how Blake had told her the original settlers on Menagerie were Mistralian.

“No, it’s not devoted to any god.” Blake answered, sighing a little. “We Faunus… Most of us don’t believe in gods, and those that do believe they exist either believe that they have left us, or that they are unimaginably cruel.”

“What? But why?” Weiss gaped in shock. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t met people who didn’t believe in gods, Neo herself could be rather fervent about her denial of the divine. But to believe them to be cruel?

“Our people were enslaved for generations, Weiss. What sort of merciful god would allow us to be treated that way? There either can’t be any gods or they don’t care about us.” If it were anyone else, Weiss might have tried to argue that hardships were a part of the brother gods’ plans for humanity, that they were always watching but forbidden to intervene. But it was hard to argue with Blake, and the point made sense. Weiss herself had found her faith in the gods wavering when she was confronted with the reality of being a Faunus when she was ten, questioning why they would curse her like that.

“The temple is for our dead. Mausoleum would probably be a more accurate term. Faunus tradition is to cremate our dead and for the living relatives to tend to the grave, lest the departed’s soul remain without rest.” Weiss wanted to ask what Blake meant by that, but she didn’t want to push the cat Faunus too hard on what would inevitably turn into a fresh lesson on Faunus culture. They turned another corner and entered a fairly large square, dominated by a large wooden building, older than any of the other buildings around and made of far sturdier wood as well.

“There are other grave plots outside the city, but without a grave to pay respects at, this is the best I can do for her.” Blake explained briefly and led the way inside. The temple was largely empty. Ringing the walls were alcoves, rising up to the ceiling in a twisting helix. At the back of the room was an altar, but Weiss was more intrigued by the statue that loomed over it, carved of wood. It depicted a shrouded woman with a massive pair of wings, painted black and outstretched, casting a shadow over the altar.

“I can feel your curiosity, Weiss. Just ask the question.” The bird Faunus jumped as Blake addressed her as they stood, admiring the statue.

“I thought you said the temple wasn’t dedicated to anyone.”

“It isn’t” Blake confirmed, now starting to walk slowly towards the altar, Weiss following.

“Then who is that a statue of?” Blake paused and sighed softly.

“A remnant of our past that we’re unwilling to let go of just yet.” Blake turned to face Weiss, a grim look upon their face. “When we were enslaved, many of our people looked to Death as the only mercy we were granted, and so they gave her form.” They looked over their shoulder, up at the covered face. “Death was the great equaliser, rich or poor, Human or Faunus. Eventually we would all be welcomed into her embrace.”

“That sounds…” Weiss didn’t want to insult something that was clearly a deeply ingrained part of Faunus culture.

“Morbid?” Blake snorted softly. “I certainly think so. You won’t find many Faunus who revere Death in modern times, but we’ve lost so much of our culture to oppression already, we’re unwilling to let it go just yet.” Weiss nodded in understanding and Blake turned back to finish their walk to the altar, Weiss hanging back a little.

The dark-haired Faunus approached the altar, head bowed and recited something in Mistralian before switching back to a language Weiss could understand. They spoke softly, but the temple was so empty their voice carried back to Weiss.

“Māmā, I’m sorry I can’t do this for you properly, but I will find you and I will give you the respect you deserve. I swear I will avenge your murder and I pray that you will find peace wherever you are.” Weiss blinked in shock as Blake retrieved a stick of incense from within their jacket and placed it in a holder on the altar. Was Blake seriously going to kill Adam? Out of all of her friends, Blake had always been firmly against killing, had been most distraught about the accidental deaths of the White Fang they fought on the train and had even defected from the White Fang over killing. Were they really going to go against their principles? And could Weiss condemn them for it, given her designs on Cinder and her allies?

Finished with the incense, Blake backed away from the altar, bowing their head one last time and returning to Weiss. “I’m done here. Thank you for coming with me.”

“Anytime.” The white-haired Faunus reassured them and they started back towards the entrance. As they approached the door, someone wearing a dark hooded cloak stepped in and started walking towards the altar. Blake paid them no mind, busy wiping at their eyes, but as they passed by, a jolt of recognition hit Weiss.

“You!” She shrieked, pointing an accusatory finger at the hooded figure. “What are you doing here?” THe figure spun to face the pair.

“Weiss, what?” Blake asked, turning to look at the figure as well.

“Ilia.” Weiss spat, already feeling the aura course through her fingers ready to conjure a glyph at a moment’s notice. Realising they weren’t going to get out of this one, the figure lowered their hood to reveal the tanned and freckled face of Blake’s former partner.

“Ilia? What are you doing here?” Blake repeated Weiss’ question, though she was more stunned than angry.

“I wanted to pay my respects to High Leader Khan.” The chameleon Faunus replied simply, though she eyed Weiss’ now faintly glowing hand warily. At that, Blake’s expression hardened, and they glared at Ilia.

“How dare you.” They growled, fist clenching. “How fucking dare you.”

“I respected her. She was a good woman.” Ilia contested hotly, their skin starting to take on a vaguely red hue.

“Evidently not enough to stop supporting her murderer!”

“If she’d just stepped down, there would have been no need for bloodshed.” Ilia’s skin turned an even darker red, now bordering on crimson. “But this had to happen, Adam is right.”

“My Māmā is dead and all you have to say is that it had to happen?” Blake looked disgusted at their former partner.

“Well, maybe now you understand how I feel.” Ilia snarled. “What it feels like to lose someone you love and be unable to do a damn thing about it.”

“You would wish that upon other people, the pain you went through, the loss? Is that what you want, Ilia? It’s not enough for only you to suffer, the whole world has to suffer as well?” For a brief moment, a frown crossed Ilia’s face before it hardened once more.

“If that’s what it takes for us to get some justice, then yes.” Weiss had had enough of this. She stepped forward, ready to summon her knight to help apprehend the renegade, when Blake shot out an arm and held Weiss back.

“This is a temple, Weiss. You can’t just start a fight in here.” They warned, though they growled at Ilia’s smug smirk.

“That’s right, Schnee.” She spat the last word as always. “But then again, I’m not surprised a pet like you would be so willing to break our traditions.” Weiss snarled and was ready to break those traditions if it meant shutting the chameleon up, but Blake was already guiding her away to the door.

“Leave it, Weiss. She’s not worth it.” They told her as Weiss struggled a little against their grip, only releasing her as they stepped out into the sunlight.

“So we wait out here for her to be done, right?” Weiss said, trying to turn to keep an eye on the chameleon Faunus inside, but Blake shook their head.

“She’ll have an escape route already planned out. This wasn’t a coincidence. But I don’t know why she wanted to meet like this.”

“To taunt you about Sienna, of course.” Weiss asserted but Blake shook their head again.

“I don’t think so?” They looked unsure though, and instead of following up on the point they started to walk back to the house. Weiss following along shortly after, glancing over her shoulder at the temple as they left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry! This has been planned from pretty much the get-go so I'm sorry to all of you, especially the ones who hoped Sienna wouldn't die. However I do hope y'all like the parts I added about how the Faunus view religion in this universe, it's never really touched upon in the show proper and I wanted to create a more fleshed out people.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so supportive whenever I'm feeling insecure about my writing.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	32. Chapter 32

“So you and Neo are leaving tomorrow, then?” Blake leaned up against the door to Weiss and Neo’s room, watching the bird Faunus packing up the last of her things.

“That’s the plan, we need to get to Haven as soon as possible. To warn Lionheart and to find Ruby.” It had been a couple of weeks since the visit to the temple and, despite the house returning to some semblance of normalcy, the recruitment campaign was not going well. With the news that Adam had taken over the White Fang, support for their fledgling movement had waned. It was pretty much an open secret that Sienna hadn’t been assassinated by a hunter, but rather in a bloody coup by Taurus. As more ships came and went, more news arrived of how Adam was cleaning house, and any opposition to his rule was met with reprisals, usually at the end of a blade.

This combined with the death of Sienna had been weighing heavily on Blake, and it had taken all of the other three teens efforts to keep them from, quite understandably, spiralling again. Fortunately, that seemed to have passed for now, and Weiss felt comfortable leaving Blake in Sun’s admittedly rather capable hands. Although she couldn’t quite shake the feeling something bad was going to happen.

“Are you free for the next couple of hours?” Weiss cocked her head curiously at Blake, just now noticing the cat Faunus looked unusually nervous about something, their forearm gripped by the opposite hand in a gesture Weiss hadn’t seen them do in a long time.

“Is something wrong?” Weiss asked, leaving her half packed satchel on the bed and walking over to the doorway.

“No, nothing’s wrong, but it’s something I could use some moral support for.” Blake admitted, looking away in embarrassment.

“Are you visiting the temple again?” Blake shook their head in answer to Weiss’ question and took a deep steadying breath.

“I’m… I... I want to get my ears pierced.” They finally rushed out, and Weiss had to blink a couple of times as she processed what the at Faunus had said.

“You want to get your ears pierced?”

“Yes. There’s a trustworthy shop in the Shallow Sea and I’m kind of nervous.” Weiss suppressed the urge to laugh a little at how the big strong hunter was afraid of a few little pinpricks. Weiss couldn’t remember when hers had been done, but she must have been maybe eight or nine.

“Do you really need me there? I’d like to make sure we’ve got everything packed, you know how disorganised Neo can be.” Blake sighed, probably remembering the time they found several of Neo’s socks strewn across their bed with none of them knowing how they got there.

“I know, but it’s important and I can explain along the way. Please?”

“It’s a Faunus thing isn’t it?” Blake nodded and Weiss sighed softly, glancing around the room at the last few things that needed to be packed.

“Sure, I’ll come.” 

Blake’s face broke into a relieved smile and they visibly relaxed, sagging a little against the door. “Thank you, Weiss.”

“Anything for my… sibling.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I think I’d prefer it if you used sister instead.”

“I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” Weiss said hastily, her hands already half raised in a placating gesture.

“You’re not and I just said I prefer sister.” Blake reassured their slightly panicked friend, an amused smirk now playing across their face. “And I like the other connotations has outside of it being a gendered term. Sibling just sounds impersonal to me.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” The white-haired Faunus let herself relax as she followed Blake out of the room and along the corridor. “I suppose since it’s a Faunus thing I shouldn’t invite Neo?”

Blake seemed to be having a small internal crisis as their face twisted in thought. “It’s not a Faunus only thing, you can invite her if you’d like.”

Weiss nodded her thanks, pulled out her scroll and typed out a quick text to Neo. ‘Blake’s going to get some piercings and I’m going for moral support. You want to come?’

A couple of seconds later, Neo’s response popped up. ‘Piercings? Like needles and stuff? Hard pass 😨 those things freak me out.’

Weiss tried and failed to suppress a snort of laughter at that. ‘You literally made a living stabbing people with an oversized needle, how are you afraid of a little one?’

Another few seconds, then another message. ‘That was different! 😠😠 Piercings and tattoos are hot and all, but getting them is freaky.’

‘If you say so, see you later.’ Weiss slid her scroll back into her pocket and returned her attention to Blake.

“Neo’s not coming, needles freak her out.”

“I don’t blame her.” Blake muttered under their breath, making Weiss smirk in amusement.

“Thanks for letting me invite her anyway. And thanks for trying with her, I know she can be a little trying at times.” Despite everything that had happened, Blake had been making an effort not to be quite so standoffish to Neo, and it showed.

“She is… tolerable.” The cat Faunus admitted only a little grudgingly. “I’m no longer all that surprised you fell for her.”

“She’s been trying so hard to make up for what she’s done and still been able to be supportive and kind, how could I not?” Weiss shrugged, she didn’t always like explaining exactly why she loved people, words couldn’t really do justice to the depth of her feelings, be they romantic or otherwise.

“I haven’t yet forgiven her for trying to kill Yang on the train though.” Blake added, a frown crossing their face briefly. “Have you thought about what you’re going to tell her, or Ruby for that matter?”

“No, I haven’t.” Weiss admitted shamefacedly and looking away from Blake as they left the house and started towards town. “What do you say to your girlfriend you haven’t seen in months? ‘Hey liebling, I may have fallen in love with this other girl whilst we were apart but I still love you.’.”

“It’s not simple, is it?” Blake agreed. “But I’m sure you’ll work it out. You’re the most determined person I know.”

“Thanks, Blake.” Weiss nudged the cat Faunus gently with her wing, Blake accepted the affectionate gesture with a nudge of their own. “So, what’s so significant about you getting these piercings?”

“It’s a tradition amongst Faunus, pretty much all Faunus. Back when we were enslaved, anyone who escaped would often remove their traits in an attempt to blend in.” Weiss winced at this and Blake gave her a sympathetic look and patted her on the shoulder. “But one group of Faunus decided they didn’t want to hide, they wanted to show how proud they were to be Faunus. So they made jewellery out of whatever they could scrounge together and used it to adorn their traits.

“Soon the practice spread to the rest of our people, even those still in bondage. After the Great War passed and we were granted our freedom, we were able to acquire better materials and the tradition evolved to start using precious metals like gold. There are at least thirty jewellers on Menagerie and countless more spread across Remnant who practice the art of hand-crafted Faunus-style body jewellery.”

Weiss was surprised by just how many jewellers there were on Menagerie alone, but this did raise a question. “How come only about half the people I’ve seen on Menagerie have these adornments?”

“It depends what traits you’ve got, it works best with secondary ears, like mine and Mom’s.” They gave them a little wiggle for emphasis. “Horns can work pretty well too. And I’ve seen Faunus with tails who like to wear rings over them.”

“How come Sun doesn’t then?”

“That’s the other reason you haven’t seen all that many Faunus with these. Some time about forty years ago, there was a shift in perceptions of body jewellery in men amongst Humans, and that spread to the Faunus.” They sniffed in irritation. “Humans and their hang ups, I swear.”

“So men don’t tend to wear it then.” Weiss asked, trying to guide the conversation back on track.

“No, they don’t. It’s become a relatively recent tradition for Faunus girls to get their piercings when they turn sixteen. Something of a coming of age ritual.” Blake sighed a little. “I never got mine back in the White Fang, it’s supposed to be a family occasion, but Māmā was always too busy.” Blake sighed sadly, ears twitching in distress, until Weiss reached out and pulled the dark-haired Faunus closer into her with her wing as they made their way through the marketplace and down to the Shallow Sea.

“Māmā always had the prettiest earrings. Mom would keep ‘borrowing’ them, and that would make Māmā so mad.”

“Is that what spurred this, then?” Weiss asked quietly, not wanting to upset Blake, but they only nodded.

“Sort of. Mom and I were going through some old things of Māmā’s she left behind and we found these.” Blake reached into a pocket and pulled out a small box. Glancing around to make sure no one was paying too much attention, they opened the box to reveal a pair of bright gold earrings, larger than most, and finely engraved with twisting patterns that Weiss didn’t have time to make out properly as Blake snapped the box shut and stowed it away.

“I’d rather have a pair she’d at least worn in the last five years, but they’ll do.”

“Blake, they’re beautiful, and it’s lovely you’re doing this for her. But shouldn’t your mother be here for this as well if it’s a family thing?”

“She’s busy right now, and besides, you’re the only family here who I’d want to be with me.” Their smile turned wistful as they approached the water’s edge and looked out over the ocean. “I love my Mom, but it’s been five years and I don’t think that gap will ever completely go away. You, Ruby and Yang are the ones I’d want there because I love you all.”

“Blaaaake.” Weiss sniffed, trying not to be overwhelmed by emotion and instead pulled Blake into a tight hug, which they returned without hesitation. “I love you too.” The pair remained like that for a while before breaking apart, Weiss brushing herself off and trying to make herself look reasonably presentable, as though she hadn’t just had an emotional moment in public.

“So where is this shop?” She asked, slipping back on the stoic persona she normally presented to the public.

“It’s just this way.” Blake smirked at Weiss’ attempt at retaining some of her dignity and led the way along the waterfront, past the steps leading into the water and the tidal market to an unassuming storefront without a sign. “They don’t need to advertise the shop, people come here on word of mouth.”

Blake led the way inside, pushing open the door and setting a small chime off, which alerted the Faunus sat behind the front desk. A pair of heavily pierced wolf ears angled towards them as the Faunus raised their eyebrows at Blake.

“Mx Blake Belladonna, what a pleasant surprise.” They grinned lazily, leaning over the counter. “What is it you’re looking for?” Blake was about to answer, when the proprietor caught sight of Weiss lowering her hood and their eyes widened. “Ms Weiss Schnee too, this day keeps getting more and more interesting.”

Blake just rolled their eyes at the wolf Faunus’ theatrical manner. “You can cut the act, Ashe.” They drawled out. “I’m still the same Blake. Well, mostly.”

“I can certainly see that.” They gestured at Blake’s bob cut. “I heard about you coming out too. How come you never came to see me until now? You’ve been on the island for months now.”

"I’ve been busy, Ashe, and I wasn’t in a good place when I got here. Not to mention I didn’t know this was where you moved to after you left the Fang.”

“Um, Blake? Care to introduce us?” Weiss chipped in, getting a little tired of standing quietly to the side whilst the other two had their back and forth.

“Sorry, Weiss. This is Ashe, we used to be in the same chapter of the White Fang until they moved out to Mistral then dropped out completely.” Weiss raised an eyebrow, the very skinny Faunus didn’t look much like White Fang material, but looks could be quite deceiving.

“I built bombs.” Ashe answered Weiss unasked question. “Got out when I miscalculated a timer somewhere and this happened.” They wheeled their chair around the counter to reveal they were missing one of their legs. Weiss’ hand jumping to her mouth in shock.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, you get used to it.” They shrugged, wheeling back around behind the desk.

“Haven’t you considered prosthetics or anything?” Ashe let out a bark of laughter at Weiss’ suggestion, shaking their head.

“Not all of us can afford fancy Atlas prosthetics, especially not out here on Menagerie.”

“Sorry…”

“Relax, it’s fine.” Ashe waved off Weiss’ apology and returned their attention to Blake. “So what is it you’re here for, Blake?”

“My ears, I figured it was about time I got them done.” They gestured up at the body part in question. “I was hoping I might be able to use my own pair.”

Ashe hummed in thought for a moment. “Normally I’d insist on you bringing them in 24 hours before hand so I can sterilize them, but you’ve got aura, haven’t you?” Blake nodded. “Then it should be fine, they’ll heal over in an instant. Can I see the earrings first though?”

Pulling the small box from their pocket, Blake handed it over to Ashe who popped it open and examined the jewellery. “These are very nice, look to be 18kt.” They murmured, pulling one out to look at it closer. “These don’t look to be your style though.”

“They aren’t, they belonged to my Māmā.”

“I see.” They replaced the earring in the box and passed it back to Blake. “Yeah, these will be fine. Are these all you want done?”

“Can I get another pair?” They asked, flicking their ear. “14kt though, I don’t think I can afford 18kt.”

“Understandable, have a look at what I’ve got.” Ashe gestured to a display case just off to the side and Blake moved over to take a closer look, Weiss joining them to look at the gold gleaming within.

“What about you, ice queen? You want something piercing? I do body piercings too.” Ashe let out a bark of laughter as Weiss squeaked in shock at what the wolf Faunus was implying and crossed her arms over her chest.

“N-No! I’m fine, thank you. I’ve already got my ears pierced.” Weiss defended, though she didn’t voice the small idea she had rattling around in the back of her head.

Thankfully, she was saved by Blake speaking up, having made their decision. They pointed out a simple pair of hoops, which Ashe wheeled over to pull out, before wheeling back around and directing Blake to a chair in the corner.

“I’ll just grab my needles, I’ll be back in a sec.” They told the pair and wheeled off into the back leaving Blake to fidget nervously on the seat.

“Relax, Blake. It’ll be fine.” Weiss reassured them. “You’ve gotten hurt way worse than this, and you’ve got aura. I got my ears pierced before mine was activated, it took weeks to heal.”

The cat Faunus nodded choppily as Ashe rolled back into the room with several sealed packets resting in their lap. “Sweet, lemme just lower your chair and boost mine up a bit.” They muttered to themselves, adjusting their positions so Blake’s ears were at Ashe’s eye level. “Hey, ice queen, could ya grab that mirror off the counter and bring it over so I can show Blake where I’m going to pierce.”

Huffing at the nickname, Weiss nevertheless acquiesced to the request, fetching the mirror and holding it up so Blake could see where Ashe was pointing to. They nodded in agreement with the placement and closing their eyes as Ashe prepared the needle. Weiss looked away at this point as well. She wasn’t afraid by any means, but she still felt a little uncomfortable watching.

There was silence for the next couple of minutes as Ashe went about their work, and it was eventually broken by them as they disposed of the used needles in a bin. “And we’re done. You can flare your aura and those should heal up nicely.” They wheeled back over to the front desk, to sort out payment whilst Blake inserted the earrings into their freshly healed ears.

“They look good!” Weiss smiled at Blake, holding up the mirror so they could admire themselves. “Great, even. It suits you.” They returned the smile faintly, turning their ears from side to side to examine them from different angles.

“Thanks for coming.”

“I’m happy that I did.” Weiss said, offering Blake a hand up and heading over to the counter where Ashe was busying themselves with a calculator.

“Right, that’ll be 723 Lien, please.” They told Blake, whose eyes bugged out a little.

“723!? No, that’s way too low.” They exclaimed, glaring at Ashe, who shrugged.

“Call it mates’ rates. I’m not charging for the work done and I knocked a bit off of the earrings. I’m still making back what I paid for ‘em plus some.”

“But I-.”

“No arguments, just accept it. From what I’ve been hearing round Kuo Kuana, it sounds like you need a break.” Blake closed their mouth with a click and fished out the requisite Lien.

“Thanks, Ashe.” They murmured, handing it over to the wolf Faunus, who stuffed it into an ancient till.

“It’s no problem, really. And I’m sorry about Sienna, she’d be happy you’re wearing her earrings.”

“I hope so.” Blake’s smile had turned watery and they swiped at their face with their sleeve. “Thanks again, Ashe.” They waved goodbye to the wolf Faunus and headed for the door, Weiss trailing after. Just as she was about to leave, she paused, that idea still rattling around in the back of her head as she flexed her wings experimentally. She was leaving tomorrow, this would probably be the only chance she’d ever get to do this.

“Actually, there is one thing I wanted to ask about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what Weiss was interested in. Anyway, the Menagerie arc is winding down now and the actual plot's gonna come for Weiss and co., said co. being Neo. I'm actually more than a little terrified about what's going to happen in vol. 7 with her, but rest assured no matter what happens in canon, my precious smol kinda murderous baby will be safe. She'll be angsty as hell, but safe.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so adorable.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	33. Chapter 33

“I wish I could say I’m surprised, but when I think about it, I’m really not.” Blake commented as they left Ashe’s shop a couple of hours later, wallets considerably lighter.

“It was time I showed my pride in who I am.” Weiss shrugged, flushing a little. It wasn’t that big of a deal, was it? “I’ve been denied my heritage for most of my life, either by Jacques Schnee or myself. It’s about time I reclaimed it.”

“I’m glad you’re comfortable with who you are now, Weiss.” Blake smiled encouragingly, ears flicking as they got used to the new weight in them.

“I feel so much freer now. Looking back, I have no idea how I was going to stand keeping these cooped up for however long it took to take control of the SDC. Now, no more hiding or pretending. Never again.” She stretched out her wings and fluttered them, revelling in the sensation. They’d brought her so much grief in the past, but now she had no idea how she could ever live without them.

“You know, I do find it mildly amusing that the two Faunus hiding themselves at Beacon ended up on the same team as one another.” Weiss cocked her head in thought. She supposed it was rather lucky that they both ended up on the same team.

“Well I’m glad we did. I wouldn’t trade you or Team RWBY for the world.”

“Neither would I.” The pair fell silent as they began the trek up the long road that connected the Shallow Sea to the main hub of Kuo Kuana. As they walked, a small niggling thought that had been bothering Weiss for while was reawakened by Blake’s words.

“Blake?” She asked quietly. “Do you regret running away and leaving us like you did?” The cat Faunus didn’t answer right away, as they let their head loll back to gaze up at the sky.

“That… There’s no easy answer.” They eventually spoke, their head rolling back to face where they were walking. “I don’t regret reconnecting with my parents, or learning more about who I am, or being able to work towards reclaiming the White Fang. I don’t regret a single thing I’ve done since I got to this island.”

That… was not the answer Weiss had been expecting. But before she could query further, Blake continued. “But I do regret leaving like I did, without a note or a warning or anything. Leaving Yang when she was hurt and needed me.” They sighed deeply. “If she doesn’t want to forgive me for it, I wouldn’t blame her. I certainly haven’t forgiven myself.”

“Blake, you were scared for her, for us. You were trying to keep us safe.”

“It still doesn’t excuse what I did.” Blake insisted stubbornly.

“No, you’re right, it, doesn’t. But everything else that happened wouldn’t have if you’d stayed. You said it yourself, you needed the space from your relationship to work out who you are.” Weiss sighed deeply. “It’s not my place to decide whether overall things turned out well, but I do hope you can forgive yourself sometime. You made a mistake, Blake. We all make them, and we learn from them. Just remember that.”

Blake didn’t answer beyond a hum of acknowledgement, and the pair fell silent as they skirted the busy marketplace and headed down to the house. Although Weiss did find it a rather surreal experience being the one giving advice to Blake for once.

As they approached the front door, Weiss noticed Blake starting to slow down, apprehension on their face.

“Something wrong?”

“I… I don’t know how Mom, or Dad for that matter, will react to me wearing Māmā’s earrings.” Blake gnawed at their bottom lip as they halted at the front door. “What if I’m overstepping a boundary or something?”

“Didn’t you say you and your mother found those out together?”

“Yes, we did. But I didn’t tell her what I was going out to do today. I wanted it to be a bit of a surprise, another reason why I didn’t invite her along.”

“Also because you were worried about her reaction, so you got it done in secret.” Weiss observed shrewdly, causing the cat Faunus to blush lightly, and Weiss chuckled. “Blake, I think she’ll be touched, your father too, that you’re carrying a piece of her with you. It’s why I use Penny Dreadful, after all.”

Blake raised a questioning eyebrow so Weiss continued a little nervously, unused to sharing this part of herself. “My faith dictates that we should keep items belonging to our loved ones who are no longer with us, preferably on our person, as a way of remembering and honouring them.” She rested a hand on the hilt of her weapon and caressed the smooth metal.

“I didn’t like Penny, I never tried to get to know her and I found her off-putting. Partly because I was jealous, mostly because A.I.s creep me out. But she didn’t deserve that, and now she’s gone, so I can’t make up for my mistake. All I can do is carry this part of her with me and hopefully use it to gain some measure of justice for her.”

The bird Faunus, looked nervously at her companion, searching for disapproval or disdain, but only saw quiet interest. “I never knew you were religious, Weiss.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and allowed herself a faint smile.

“I don’t like to talk about it much. My sect isn’t exactly… popular in Atlas, and quite a few of our beliefs are rather fringe compared to mainstream worship. And besides, I’m not all that devout anyway. I don’t attend services or perform my daily prayers or much else really.”

Blake nodded in understanding. “It’s your belief and it’s personal. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Weiss just shrugged. “It’s only fair, you’ve shared a lot with me over the last few months.”

“That’s not how things work, Weiss.” Blake warned. “We’ve been over this, relationships of any kind aren’t transactions.”

“I know, I know.” Weiss grumbled, kicking herself mentally for slipping back into that mindset, however briefly. “Are we going to stand out here all afternoon? Or are we going to go show your mom your new piercings?” A moment’s pause, then Blake nodded, pushing open the front door and heading into the house, Weiss following after them. They found Kali bustling around the kitchen, busy preparing for Weiss and Neo’s last meal in the Belladonna home.

“Blake, there you are! I was looking for you a little earlier, you said you weren’t going to be long.” Kali said, glancing at the pair briefly before returning her attention to the stove.

“Sorry, Mrs Belladonna, we took longer than expected because I wanted to get something for myself and it needed resizing.” Weiss apologised and the older cat Faunus’ ears perked up.

“What did you get, dear?” She asked, turning to face the pair properly, but Weiss hastily stepped behind Blake and drew her cloak around herself.

“Actually, I think Blake has something to show you first.” She gave her friend a soft nudge, making them step closer to their mother.

“I, um, I got my ears pierced!” Blake smiled nervously as they gestured up at their ears, which twitched for emphasis.

“Oh, Blake, they look lovely!” The younger Faunus’ smile relaxed just a little as Kali came closer and stood up on tip-toe to examine the earrings closer, her eyes widening in recognition as she did so. “Blake, are these...?”

“Yes, Mom. They’re Māmā’s.” Their expression turned anxious and they started fidgeting awkwardly. “It’s okay, right?”

“Of course it is, sweetheart.” Kali pulled Blake into a tight hug, earning a squeak of surprise from them. “I’m sure she’d want you to have them, and they look perfect on you.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Blake murmured into Kali’s shoulder as they returned the hug.

“So what did you get, Weiss?” Kali asked when the hug broke apart, Blake remaining beside their mother and looking as though they were trying to hold back tears. “I can’t see any more piercings in your ears.”

“No, I… I got these.” Weiss pulled back her cloak and extended her wings. On each one, clasped on either side of the joint farthest from her body, where her primary and secondary feathers met, were two cuffs connected by a hinge over the joint. The cuffs themselves were a polished silver inlaid with delicate gold filigree patterns that spiralled across the metal.

“I just needed to get them adjusted a little to fit my wings properly.” The bird Faunus explained, flexing her wings to show off how they glittered in the light. “Ashe assured me they’re hard-wearing enough that I shouldn’t be too worried about them getting damaged in combat. I can protect them with my aura anyway.”

“They were actually thrilled someone was buying them.” Blake added as they sniffed the air and dashed over to the stove to save whatever was in the wok from burning. “There aren’t that many Faunus with wings out there, so they’ve had that piece for a while.”

“They aren’t as meaningful as Blake’s.” Weiss said, head bowed in embarrassment and hand clasping her bicep. “But after they told me the history behind them, it just felt like the right thing to do after so many years of removing my wings.”

“Weiss, meaning is subjective.” Blake called over, stirring and scraping at the wok as Kali nodded in agreement.

“They’re meaningful to _ you, _dear, that’s what matters, and they look wonderful on you.”

“Thanks, Mrs Belladonna.” Weiss smiled and accepted a hug from Kali. “Do you need any help in here?”

“No, thank you, dear.” Kali insisted, now starting to push Weiss to the door. “You’re one of the guests of honour at the table, you don’t help make it. You are going to finish packing and show Neo your wing cuffs. I think she’ll like them.” She successfully guided Weiss out of the kitchen. “And one last thing. You’ve been living here for months, dear. I think we passed the point where you can call me Kali.”

And with a final gentle shove, Weiss was ejected from the kitchen and the door was shut behind her with Kali’s final words. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

Accepting her banishment with good grace, Weiss set off in search of Neo. She didn’t find the pastel girl in their room, nor in the living room the four teens normally took over. As she was pulling out her scroll to text Neo, someone called out to her from just behind.

“Weiss, can I talk to you for a moment?” The bird Faunus looked back to see Ghira poking his head out of his office.

“Of course, Chief.” Weiss agreed, tucking away her scroll. Seeing Neo wasn’t so urgent that she couldn’t speak to the chief briefly. Turning back, she followed Ghira into his study and over to his desk, feeling a slight twinge of nervousness as he settled himself behind it.

“First, I wanted to thank you for agreeing to be my envoy to Haven.” The man said as Weiss sat down opposite him. “It’s a great help.”

“It’s nothing, Chief, really. I was going to Haven anyway. Really, I should be thanking you for paying for our tickets to Anima.”

“I can’t have my official envoy travel on her own lien now, can I?” Ghira chuckled softly before his face sobered a little. “You’re really sure you want to be so associated with Menagerie and Blake’s new movement?”

“Of course I do. It’s about time the world knew where I stand.” She flexed her wings unconsciously and noticed Ghira’s eyebrow raise as he noticed her wing cuffs before breaking into a smile Weiss could only describe as proud.

“I see. But I’m afraid thanks aren’t all I wanted to talk to you about.” He sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I’m worried about Blake.”

Weiss cocked her head in confusion. “But why? I haven’t noticed anything off with them.”

“They hide it well… But I know Sienna’s murder hit them hard.” He fixed Weiss with a sombre look. “And I’m afraid they’re going to do something they’ll regret.”

“I’m sorry, Sir, but I’m not sure what it is exactly you’re getting at.” She had a vague idea of what Ghira was getting at, but she preferred to deal in certainties and not dance around the point.

“I’m afraid they’re going to kill Adam out of a misplaced sense of justice or vengeance.” The words were clear and hung between them pointedly. “And I don’t want them to have that on their conscience.”

Weiss chose her next words carefully. “But Sir, you said it yourself that you would kill him.”

“I’d just found out a beloved partner of mine for eighteen years had been murdered as a stepping stone in a madman’s quest for power. I lost my temper and I regret what I said.” He looked at Weiss, something unidentifiable in his eyes. “But I do not believe that killing Adam Taurus is the way to get justice for Sienna or all the other people he has killed.” Weiss inhaled and exhaled, unable to quite meet Ghira’s gaze. 

“With all due respect, Sir, I disagree.” If Ghira was surprised by this, he didn’t show it as Weiss continued. “I believe that sometimes, we have to do things that aren’t good or easy to do what’s right, and sometimes justice can only be served by the edge of a blade.”

“I see.” Ghira sighed again, leaning back in his chair. “Would I be right in thinking you came to this conclusion through personal experience?”

“I did, but the details don’t matter. I would do anything to protect my family and the people I love, and failing that, I will make sure the people who brought them low pay in blood.”

“And that’s what you intend to do in Haven with Adam’s co-conspirators? Make them pay in blood?”

Weiss didn’t answer immediately, instead reaching for her sidearm, unclipping it and laying it on the desk. “You know who this belonged to?” Ghira nodded solemnly. “Penny didn’t deserve to die, all she wanted to do was have friends and help people. And now she’s dead. What about Pyrrha? She was the best huntress of our generation and she was going to be a hero. And now she’s dead too. Don’t they deserve justice?”

There was no response from Ghira as he contemplated the young woman sat before him. As the silence stretched on, Weiss retrieved her blade and clipped it back to her belt before speaking again. “If you don’t want me to be your envoy anymore, I understand.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” He steepled his fingers as he looked at her. “You know I can’t condone your actions or what you plan to do, but I understand. Thank you for being honest with me.”

“Of course, sir.” The conversation over, Weiss got to her feet and made her way to the door. “Thank you for understanding.”

* * *

The farewell dinner had been a bittersweet affair. Weiss found herself a little reluctant to leave, but she had a job to do, several in fact, and so found herself on the docks of Kuo Kuana bright and early the next morning, accompanied by Neo and being seen off by those who were staying.

“Good luck, you two, have a good journey!” Sun instructed as he pulled both girls into a crushing hug.

“Good luck to you too, we’ll see you in Haven soon enough. And don’t forget, I’m coming with you when you talk to your team.” Weiss instructed the monkey Faunus, who grinned and gave her a mock salute.

“Do try to keep out of trouble, the journey through Anima can be dangerous.” Kali fretted a little from beside Ghira, who pulled her into a one-armed hug.

“They’ll be fine, Kali. They’re both strong young women.” He reassured his wife, smiling at the two. If he had any reservations about Weiss after their talk the previous afternoon, he didn’t show them. As Kali let her husband calm her anxiety, Blake stepped up to Weiss and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I don’t want to say goodbye again.” They murmured into Weiss’ shoulder as the white-haired Faunus returned the embrace and wrapped her wings around them.

“I know, but this is important, and we’ll see each other again soon. I promise.”

“Me too.” Blake sniffed hard, and Weiss could feel a dampness on her shoulder where Blake’s head rested. Eventually the hug broke apart, both Faunus swiping at their tears.

“I forgot to give you something last night.” Weiss rummaged in her satchel briefly before pulling out a magazine of Dust-infused bullets like the one she’d given Blake on the train. “Just in case, I really should start making more of them.”

“Thanks, Weiss.” Blake smiled tearily at Weiss, taking the magazine and tucking it into a pocket before turning to face Neo. “I suppose I’ll see you in Haven too won’t I?” The shorter girl nodded, smiling cheekily up at Blake as they typed out a quick note.

‘You betcha! 😄😁 I ain’t leaving Weiss’ side for anything.’ Blake just rolled their eyes and offered a hand, which Neo shook politely. However, before Blake could pull away, Neo pulled them into a quick hug. She released the disgruntled Blake after a few moments and skipped away up the gangplank as the others snickered quietly.

Weiss had one last look back at the assembled group and, with one last wave, followed Neo up the gangplank and onto the ship that would take them to Anima and the next step of their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, the Menagerie arc comes to an end, Weiss is on her way to Anima with Neo and who knows who or what they'll encounter along the way. I've had Weiss' wing jewellery planned out as the final part of this arc for quite some time and to act as the culmination of Weiss' arc of accepting herself as a Faunus.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and for being so reliable and supportive.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	34. Chapter 34

“What do you mean you can’t get us passage on an airship!?” Weiss squawked indignantly whilst Neo glared beside at the man stood behind the counter. “I’m the envoy from Menagerie, it says so right here!” She brandished the official letter Ghira had given her.

“It’s like I said, the airships are for approved Mistral Council business only.” Weiss nearly shrieked in frustration. Things had been going so well. The voyage to Anima had been a quiet one, Weiss spending most of her time training with Neo or trying to work out how exactly she was going to find everyone in Mistral. They’d made landfall only a couple of hours ago and, after freshening up, Weiss and Neo had set about trying to secure transport to Haven.

“Neo, you said you have contacts in Anima, right? Can you get in touch with them to arrange something?” The pastel girl shook her head sorrowfully, signing up at Weiss.

_ ‘Firstly, they were Roman’s contacts, not mine, and I don’t know if they’d be willing to talk to me. Secondly, they’re all up in Windpath and there’s no way to get a message up there without going there ourselves. And thirdly, they’re not the sort I want to introduce you to, snowflake. They’re a rather… unsavoury bunch. Sorry.’ _

“Don’t apologise, it’s not your fault.” Weiss sighed, turning back to the man. “Is there any way you can help us get to Haven? Any caravans or something? Neo, can you drive?” The shorter girl paused in thought then shook her head.

“Sorry, no caravans or anything headed that way, most people aren’t coming into Anima these days, and not from here.” He scratched his nose. “And if neither of you can drive, then I’m afraid it’s looking like you’re going to have to walk it.”

“You’re kidding, right?” The pair gaped at the man. Surely he was joking. There was no way the pair of them could make the journey across Anima and make it to Haven in time.

“Sorry, but that’s the best option I got for ya.” The man shrugged. “If that’s all, ladies, I’ve got other business to attend to.”

Grumbling under her breath, Weiss led the way outside, Neo following along with a look of concern. “Great, just great. It’ll take us months to get to Haven if we walk.” As she tried to calculate exactly how long it would take them on foot to reach Haven, Neo tugged on her sleeve for attention.

_ ‘Well…’  _ She signed somewhat hesitantly.  _ ‘I do have a solution, but I don’t think you’ll like it much.’  _ Weiss narrowed her eyes suspiciously but gestured for the shorter girl to continue.

_ ‘I can drive, fly an airship too, but I don’t exactly have a license, and you need one of those to do this sort of thing legally.’  _ Weiss was starting to see where this was going. Glancing around, she pulled Neo off to the side, where they couldn’t easily be seen, and switched to signing herself.

_ ‘Are you seriously suggesting we steal a vehicle?’  _ She asked incredulously. Admittedly, she shouldn’t have been too surprised. Neo was a former career criminal, after all. Although, since they’d started travelling together, Neo hadn’t really demonstrated any criminal tendencies.

_ ‘I knew you wouldn’t like it.’  _ Neo sighed theatrically before continuing.  _ ‘I’m not entirely fond of the idea either. I’m trying to stick to the straight and narrow here, but we’ve got a job to do and you’ve got a girlfriend to get back to.’ _

_ ‘Yes, but stealing? What if we take something that the people here need?’ _

_ ‘It’s not as though we’ll be taking some family’s car.’  _ Neo rubbed at her temples in frustration.  _ ‘We’re in a reasonably large port town with a small air dock, there’s bound to be someone around here that sells used cars or something.’ _

_ ‘I don’t know…’  _ Weiss could feel her resolve wavering, however. They could just acquire a vehicle from someone who sells them. If they were smart about their business, they’d be insured against theft.

_ ‘Come on, snowflake. Be gay, do crime. Or think of it as commandeering a vehicle on behalf of the government of Menagerie or something. But I am not walking all the way to Haven. It was a pain to walk that short way across Sanus before you picked me up and I have no intention of doing that again.’  _ Neo pouted up at Weiss with her best puppy eyes, and the last few vestiges of her resolve crumbled.

_ ‘Fine, let’s do this. But!’  _ She frowned at Neo’s silent cheering which promptly halted. ‘ _ We’re leaving behind at least some money to cover the vehicle.’ _

_ ‘You’d make a rubbish criminal. You’re too much of a good person.’ _

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” The white-haired Faunus said dryly, switching back to speaking now that she wasn’t talking about committing a crime.

_ ‘It is! You’re a good person, snowflake. It’s one of the reasons I like you.’  _ Heat flashed to Weiss’ cheeks and she turned away hastily so Neo wouldn’t see how flustered she was. If she gave Neo an inch, she’d take a mile and then some. She’d probably spend hours every day trying to make her blush.

“R-Right! Let’s have a look around town, shall we?” Weiss suggested, back still turned to Neo and started walking without waiting for an answer, though she could hear wheezy chuckles following her. After a short distance, Neo caught up to Weiss and grabbed her hand, something she raised an eyebrow at.

“Neo…” She said, warning in her tone, but Neo just grinned sunnily up at Weiss before pulling in closer and sticking out her tongue. Sighing, Weiss accepted her fate and continued to walk hand in hand with Neo along the street.

As they walked, Weiss made note of a few different stores they passed. They’d need supplies for their cross-Anima road trip, especially if they weren’t able to stop in a town each night. Anima was a big place and the towns were a lot further from each other than they were in Vale. Actually, that was something else they should pick up, a map so they could plan the best route to Haven.

There was a gentle tug on Weiss’ arm as she mentally catalogued the various supplies and she turned to look at what Neo was pointing at. 

“No. No way in hell am I riding across Anima in  _ that _ .” Weiss glared evilly at the freezer truck with ‘Schnee Creamery’ emblazoned on the side parked in the overnight section of a motel.

_ ‘Come on, snowflake. It’s perfect. If we steal it you’ll be hurting the SDC too, and there’s no need to leave any money. It’s guilt-free, practical and awesome!’  _ Weiss groaned, rubbing at the bridge of her nose in frustration. Neo made a few annoyingly good points, and she certainly felt a lot less guilty about stealing a truck from the SDC than from some random used car dealership.

“Fine, I guess we’re doing this.” She groaned, praying to the gods she wouldn’t regret this decision. “We still need to get food, camping supplies and a map, and get our clothes cleaned.” Weiss reeled off, wondering if she’d missed anything.

_ ‘You need any more Dust?’  _ Neo had to release Weiss’ hand to sign again, though she looked oddly unhappy this time and quickly latched back onto the Faunus’ hand once she was done.

“I should have enough to last me until we reach the next major settlement.” Weiss said, checking her satchel to be sure. Yes, even after using some to create those bullets for Blake, she still had plenty of Dust to fuel Lilie. “Oh! But we will need more Fire Dust for the truck.”

Neo’s grip slackened briefly, before tightening again as Neo rather awkwardly fished her scroll out with her left hand and tapped out a message. ‘You cna leave taht to me. 😁😁’ Weiss smirked at the clumsy spelling as Neo pouted back.

“Perhaps we should switch sides.” She suggested, earning a sweet smile from the shorter girl, who nearly skipped around to Weiss’ right side and taking her other hand. “Better?”

‘Lots! Wish I didn’t have to use this to talk whilst holding hands though. 😓😓’ A pensive look crossed Neo’s face, but before Weiss could ask what she was thinking, Neo had moved on. ‘So I’ll get the Fire Dust, the truck and the food if you sort out the other stuff and get our clothes washed.’

“Oh, no you don’t.” Weiss warned, already seeing how badly this could go. “You are not getting the food or we’ll end up living off of ice cream for the entire journey.”

Neo shrugged, a cheeky grin crossing her face. ‘Come oooon! We’re stealing an actual ice cream delivery truck. How can we not?’

Weiss just rolled her eyes. “No, süße. You can get the camping supplies and I’ll get the food.” There was a huff and a reluctant nod from Neo. “Good. Have you seen a bank around here? I get the feeling we’re going to need a lot more money.”

* * *

Weiss thanked the gods she’d had the forethought to split her funds across multiple different Kingdom’s banks. With the CCT still down, there was no way for her to pull funds from her main account in Vale.

She had, however, lacked the immediate forethought of how much all the food she bought would weigh. She was already burdened, not just by her own satchel of clothes and supplies, but Neo’s too, as she’d been in charge of getting their laundry done. Add to that several bags of tinned goods and other non-perishable food and Weiss found herself struggling to carry it all.

They’d decided it was best to wait until nightfall to leave town. Neo said it would be easier to get the truck under cover of darkness, and Weiss was inclined to agree. So here she was, loitering on a dark corner fairly close to the edge of town, waiting for Neo to arrive with the truck so they could get under way.

As Weiss wondered what was taking Neo so long, she almost missed her scroll buzzing with a message. Setting down one of the bags, she fished out the device and checked it.

‘This may be a little more difficult than I thought. I’m going to need your help.’ Weiss stared at the message blankly before firing one back.

‘So not only am I an accessory to this, now you want me to take part in the theft?!’

‘I know, I’m sorry. But I wouldn’t ask unless I really needed your help. Please?  🙏🙏 ’ Weiss groaned before picking up the bag and making her way to the motel, grumbling all the way. It took her half an hour to make it to the lot, where she found Neo hiding nearby, a variety of bags at her feet.

“So what’s the problem?” Weiss asked, dropping her own cargo beside Neo’s.

_ ‘So SDC have improved their vehicle security, and I haven’t had to jack a car in ages, so hotwiring it is out.’  _ Neo signed, Weiss able to make out the gestures with her night vision.

“So we can’t steal that truck?” She asked, feeling her heart sink. She’d specifically bought heavier food on the assumption that they were leaving town in that truck.

_ ‘No, all we have to do is steal the keys from the driver. I broke into the owner’s office and found out which room he’s staying in.’  _ Neo explained rapidly, glancing around every once in a while just in case someone had noticed them.

“Then what do you need me for?”

_ ‘I need you to stand guard and…’  _ Neo blushed and pouted as she signed the next few words.  _ ‘I need you to give me a boost to get in through the bathroom window.’ _

“You what?” Weiss gaped at the shorter girl, who was still flushed. “That was what you needed me for?!”

_ ‘Look, I’m short, okay?!’  _ Neo scowled up at Weiss in annoyance.

“Can’t you just pick the lock or something?”

_ ‘I can’t pick locks, it’s the one thing I never got the hang of.’  _

“Then how did you get into the office?”

_ ‘Broke a window.’ _

“Then break another!”

_ ‘And wake the guy up? Just give me the boost, okay?’  _ Grumbling under her breath about how Neo was supposed to be some kind of master criminal yet couldn’t pick locks, Weiss followed Neo around the back of the motel to a small window about six feet off the ground, which Neo said belonged to the room the delivery driver was staying in.  _ ‘Okay, hoist me up.’  _ Rolling her eyes, Weiss ducked down and interlaced her fingers, boosting Neo up to the window. 

The multicoloured girl was surprisingly light, and Weiss had little trouble holding her up as she drew Hush to jimmy the latch. What was giving her trouble was the fact that her eyeline was now directly level with Neo’s very toned thighs. She shouldn’t look, they had boundaries and ogling Neo almost certainly crossed one. Even though it was just her legs and they were fully clothed, not to mention Neo would welcome the attention.

Weiss was saved from her minor ethical dilemma by the click of the latch being opened and Neo sheathing Hush to slide in through the now open window. Once she was sure Neo had made it into the room safely, Weiss made her way around the front of the building to wait.

She didn’t have to wait for long. Afew minutes later, the door to the room opened and Neo slipped out jingling a keyring with the Schnee Creamery mascot dangling from it. “Okay, let’s get the truck loaded up and get out of here before someone notices.”

Nodding in agreement, the two jogged back to where they left their things hidden off to the side and began hauling it over to the truck. They worked as quietly as they could, unloading the various crates of Schnee Creamery ice cream, Neo taking an almost savage glee in what she referred to as ‘saving the world from sub-par ice cream.

Neo had made the suggestion that they could sleep in the back when camping since it was fairly reinforced in order to remain refrigerated. Weiss had, however, put her foot down on this. She was definitely not sleeping in an airless coffin every night, so the cab would suffice, although it would probably be rather cramped at first. Food and camping gear loaded in the back and safely strapped down, the pair climbed in the front, Neo struggling a little to reach the pedals as Weiss set up the things they’d need up front.

“Okay, let’s get out of town first, then we can plan our route properly. If we take the North road out of town, hopefully we can put a good amount of distance between here and us before the driver notices the truck’s gone.” Neo nodded in agreement and started up the truck, the top-notch engine purring to life. Slowly, she backed out of the spot and drove the truck out of the car park, heading towards the North end of town.

It wasn’t exactly ideal. If she had a choice, she wouldn’t be caught dead in anything related to the SDC, but it was transport. Weiss did not envy any poor soul who had to make the journey across Anima on foot. Leaning up against Neo, Weiss let herself fall into a light doze as they rolled out of town. They’d get to Haven in no time at this rate and Weiss would finally be reunited with Ruby. A happy thought that was only a little marred by the faint worry she felt about explaining Neo to Ruby and how she wanted to date both of them. Frowning a little, Weiss slowly drifted off to the rumble of the engine and the soft warmth of the girl beside her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the journey across Anima in the most ridiculous vehicle begins. A much more light-hearted chapter after the fairly heavy subject matter of the last few. There were discussions of having Weiss and Neo steal the truck to save the local ice cream parlour who was being muscled out by Schnee Creamery, but that seemed a little too far in the levity direction. 
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and always having my back.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	35. Chapter 35

When Weiss awoke, she found herself alone in the cab of the truck with a blanket draped over her and the sound of whistling floating through the morning air. Stretching out and blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she slowly crawled to the door and clambered out. They appeared to be parked a little way from the road and out of sight of anyone who drove past.

Following the whistling around the back of the truck, Weiss found Neo perched on a box and painting over the Schnee Creamery logo, as well as most of the rest of the side of the truck. She’d hung up her jacket and hat on a nearby tree, and Weiss was once again forced into the difficult ethical dilemma of whether it was appropriate for her to ogle Neo.

“Morning, Neo.” She mumbled, foregoing any solid decision on the matter and examining the paint job instead. Of course, Neo had decided to use pastel pink for the cover up. Subtlety did not seem to be in this girl’s vocabulary. “I thought the idea was to lie low?”

_ ‘This is lying low, trust me. The more attention we draw to ourselves, the less likely people are to think the truck isn’t exactly ours.’  _ Neo signed, having to drop her paint brush to do so and looking rather annoyed at the fact.

“That… doesn’t sound right.” Weiss said, trying to puzzle out the contradictions in Neo’s logic.

_ ‘You know how Roman managed to avoid getting arrested for so long despite all the wanted posters all over Vale?’  _ Weiss shook her head.  _ ‘He dressed exactly like himself and just strutted around town like he owned the place. Because surely the most wanted man in Vale wouldn’t be so stupid as to waltz around town like that. I mean, he was kind of stupid, but he didn’t get arrested for ages until you lot showed up, and even then that was supposed to be part of the plan.’ _

“Okay, I kind of see your point, but I’m still not sure it’s such a good idea.”

_ ‘Well it’s a little too late to change our minds, all I’ve got is the pink and I’m already half done with this side.’ _

“Do you have another brush?” Weiss sighed in resignation, hanging up her cloak beside Neo’s things and taking the extra brush Neo proffered. It was a quiet affair, with Neo unable to talk without pausing in her work, Weiss elected not to talk to her, the sooner they finished the coverup, the sooner they could get back on the road.

It was almost therapeutic, the repetitive motions of daubing paint on the side of the truck whilst listening to Neo’s quiet whistling. They’d had a few quiet moments like this on the voyage to Anima, Weiss often reading a book whilst Neo practised her yoga or read over Weiss’ shoulder. Outside of these moments, however, Neo was rarely silent, always telling Weiss some anecdote or piece of history trivia she’d just learned from a book she’d borrowed from Ghira. Weiss wondered briefly if it was because she could understand ASL and Neo enjoyed having someone she could talk to with relative ease.

Not for the first time, Weiss considered asking Neo why she couldn’t speak, but she got the impression that would be very rude. Especially after Neo had requested Weiss not pry into her past, something Weiss had respected. Although she did suspect it had something to do with the scars around Neo’s throat and collar Weiss would catch glimpses of every so often. After Weiss had first seen them back in Vale, Neo had taken extra care with hiding them behind her Overactive Imagination, but after a couple of months passed, she had started forgetting occasionally.

Weiss shook her head to clear it of these thoughts and speculation, Neo would tell when she was ready. This would not be a repeat of how she’d essentially forced Ruby to come out to her. Sighing, she redoubled her efforts, taking some small pleasure in slathering the pastel pink over the smiling ice cream that served as the logo for Schnee Creamery. She’d always hated that thing and its ridiculous grin.

As she lost herself in the painting, she started humming along with Neo’s whistling, not really paying attention to what she was doing until she started singing. “Tell me who’s the loneliest of a-.” She caught herself mid word and glared over at Neo who smiled innocently. “How do you know that song? As far as I’m aware I was never recorded.” Jacques had insisted her voice only be heard in person, to restrict the supply to increase the demand or something equally money-grubbing.

“Unless…” Gears turned in Weiss’ head as she went over what little she knew of Neo’s life before she became a master criminal. “No… You didn’t?” Weiss gaped at the now awkwardly shuffling Neo. “You attended one of my concerts.”

There was a pause, then Neo nodded, putting down her paintbrush to sign.  _ ‘When I was eight.’  _ She confirmed.  _ ‘I’d never been to a concert before, and honestly I’d pretty much forgotten about it until I met you. You sang beautifully, and you still do.’  _ Weiss felt her cheeks heat at the compliment and she looked away to try to hide it.

“I’m out of practice. And besides, I was always singing for  _ him _ .” She glanced back to see what Neo had to say.

_ ‘Then maybe you could pick it back up? I’d love to hear you sing again.’  _ More blushing and a small squeak of embarrassment this time.

“I couldn’t…” Weiss protested bashfully, turning away again to continue painting, though she looked back when Neo tapped her on the arm.

_ ‘I won’t push, but you looked happy just now, and I want you to be happy.’  _ Gods, Weiss wanted to kiss her for saying that, for the guileless smile she wore and those warm brown eyes Neo liked to wear around her.

“I-I’ll think about it.” She stammered out, tearing her eyes away from Neo’s thin and gorgeously soft lips and back to the painting at hand. Her attempt to continue again was interrupted by Neo giving her a quick hug before she too returned to painting and whistling Weiss’ song. After a few seconds of thought, Weiss hesitantly joined in. It wasn’t her favourite song in her repertoire, but Neo seemed to like it and that was more than enough for Weiss.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the sweaty pair stepped back to admire their handiwork. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job with this. I suppose we just need to wait for it to dry before we head off again.” Neo nodded in agreement, looking thoroughly pleased with the paint job.

_ ‘We’re pretty much good to go!’  _ Neo frowned in thought.  _ ‘Where is it we’re actually going? Besides Mistral and Haven I mean.’ _

“That is what we’re going to work out now.” Weiss replied, walking over to the cab and pulling out the map she’d picked up, bringing it back to Neo. “We landed here.” Weiss pointed out the town they’d just left on the southern coast and we’re somewhere along this road.” She traced the line between the town they’d just left and the next one labelled ‘Shiroyuri’.

_ ‘It doesn’t look like we can take the most direct route.’  _ Neo pointed out the shortest paths leading up to Mistral, which were too small for their truck to get up.  _ ‘It looks like we’re going to have to go via Kuchinashi.’ _

“Or we could ditch the truck at this ’Kuroyuri’ and walk the rest of the way.” Weiss suggested, but Neo shook her head.

_ ‘I don’t like the idea of walking, not just because I don’t want to, but Anima’s filled with bandit tribes and general lawlessness. Kuchinashi and Windpath are major hubs of criminal activity, and even Mistral has its share of crooks. Which reminds me, if you see someone wearing purple and with a spider tattoo, do not go near them and do not under any circumstances mention you know me.’  _ Weiss blinked a few times at Neo’s sudden and rather forceful warning.

“Um, care to explain why?” Neo frowned nervously, shuffling her feet.

_ ‘They… work for Lil Miss Malachite, and let’s just say she’s got something of a grudge against me.’ _

“What did you and Roman do something to anger her that much?” Weiss asked, cocking her head curiously.

_ ‘No, this one’s all on me. I… slept with her twin daughters. At the same time. And then didn’t call them afterwards.’  _ Neo grinned sheepishly as Weiss gaped at her companion. It hadn’t explicitly come up in conversation, but Neo had on occasion hinted at having a fairly busy love life before meeting Weiss, although this was the first time Neo had actually admitted to it.

“I-I see.” Weiss felt herself blush and fixed her gaze firmly on Neo’s hands rather than meet her eyes.

_ ‘Yeah, Lil Miss got pretty mad about that, and she holds grudges for a long time.’  _ Neo’s hand half-formed a few signs as she seemed to be struggling with what she wanted to say next.  _ ‘Sor-. I, um, I-I’m sorry, I made things awkward talking about the twins like that.’ _

“No, no. It’s fine. You’ve had girlfriends before, I shouldn’t be so shocked that you did… things with them.” Weiss mumbled, still rather embarrassed about the whole thing, but she was surprised when Neo started blushing too.

_ ‘I… I’ve never had a girlfriend before. I’ve had… quite a few one-night stands, but I never clicked with anyone, you know? Never had feelings for anyone before. Well, no one before you.’  _ Neo’s face was bright crimson as she admitted this, and Weiss was a little reassured that she wasn’t the only one out of her element in this conversation.

“O-Oh, I’m flattered, I guess? No, wrong words, sorry.” Weiss took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts as her heart swelled with affection and love at Neo’s words. “I don’t really know what to say, honoured is the closest word I can think of. And happy, so incredibly happy you feel that way about me.” Neo broke into a bashful smile, her face still rather red as she latched onto Weiss for a tight hug, burying herself into the Faunus’ embrace.

Dear gods, Weiss prayed Ruby would understand and accept this. Weiss would never give up what they had for anything, but she wasn’t sure she could give up Neo either. She was saved from this line of thinking by Neo pulling back and returning her attention to the map.

_ ‘I think it’s probably best if we follow the road up to Shiroyuri. We can stop there overnight and then keep following the road up to Kuchinashi and onward to Mistral, stopping off in whatever towns we can along the way. We can probably make it to Mistral in about a month and a half.’ _

“A month? It didn’t take us a month to get across Sanus to Dolmen.” Weiss scrutinised the distance between where they were and Mistral. It didn’t look that much further than their previous journey.

_ ‘The road between Vale and Dolmen is pretty much straight, this one’s got a lot of detours. Also, it’s just me driving. I’m unfamiliar with the area and I do need to take breaks every so often.’  _ Neo explained, tracing out how the road twisted and turned through the wilds of Anima.

“Well, it’s better than the few months it would take if we were walking.” Weiss admitted, doing a few calculations in her head. If Neo’s predictions were correct, they should be in Mistral by late May, plenty of time before the start of the new school year at Haven, enough to prepare for the oncoming storm.

“I suppose we should get back on the road?” Neo nodded in agreement, collecting their things from the tree they’d hung them in and handing Weiss back her cloak. Clipping it back in place, she watched Neo slip her jacket back on, hiding her not inconsiderable biceps, and replaced her hat with a quick confirmation that Weiss’ feather was still there. Checking they’d loaded everything back up, Weiss had insisted they were not going to litter in the forest, The pair made their way back to the cab and climbed in, Neo shuffling a little awkwardly once again to reach the pedals.

“Maybe we can get something to help with that in Shiroyuri?” Weiss suggested as Neo started up the truck.

_ ‘Like what? Some string to tie the paint tins to my feet?’  _ Neo snarked back, a little peeved at her lack of height, but mostly amused by her own suggestion.

“If you think that would work, then sure.” The white-haired Faunus shrugged. “You’re going to be driving us several hundred miles, I want you to be as comfortable as you can when you do so.”

_ ‘That’s sweet of you, snowflake, but I’ll be fine for now. Let’s get this show on the road!’  _ Neo gestured as dramatically as she could whilst still having her signs be recognisable before putting the truck into gear and sending them rolling back onto the dirt road and off into the woods.

They rode in silence, Weiss not wanting to talk whilst Neo couldn’t answer, which lasted for about half an hour before Neo brought the truck to a screeching stop.

“What’s the problem?” Weiss asked anxiously, looking out the windows to see what had made the pastel girl bring them to a halt.

_ ‘I can’t take it! We are not just going to sit here in silence for the entire journey!’  _ Neo signed in frustration.

“I’m sorry, I thought that you wouldn’t want me to talk if you couldn’t respond.” Weiss apologised, feeling a stab of guilt for not asking first.

_ ‘I appreciate the thought, but please, just sing, talk about something random, anything. I hate awkward silences, and your voice really, really pretty and I love hearing it. Please?’  _ Nodding, Weiss pulled out her scroll and opened it up to the last book she’d been reading as Neo put the truck in gear again and pulled off.

“The young shinigami was taken aback by the woman’s ethereal beauty, her mouth moved to form words, but all she could manage was a dull croak.

“’My my my. You are a pretty one aren’t you?’ The woman chuckled with an edge of menace. ‘Don’t worry, I don’t bite, unless you want me to.’.” Weiss paused, her face flushing, having forgotten the last book she’d been reading was a bootlegged copy of Ninjas of Love Vol. 4.

Suddenly, Neo’s scroll was thrust in front of her face. ‘Why’d you stop? It’s getting to the good bit!’ Weiss gaped a little at Neo.

“You’ve read Ninjas of Love?!” The pastel girl nodded, eyes half on the road as she tapped out another message.

‘It’s one of my favourite series.’ Weiss couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter.

“You should have told Blake, you’d be best friends by now.” She chuckled, Neo’s wheezy groan trailing behind them as the truck rolled on towards Shiroyuri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few more bits of Neo's mysterious past are revealed as she and Weiss bond. Weiss'll eventually unlock it all I'm sure. Not much to say about the chapter here, just some more light-hearted stuff with no plot point set ups for more serious stuff down the line. That finale though was something and rest assured I have all my plans for this series leading up to then set.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and for being the most adorable person ever.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	36. Chapter 36

It took a couple of weeks for the first major problem on Weiss and Neo’s impromptu road trip to rear its head. The pair were just packing up camp and getting ready for another day’s travel. According to the map they’d be in Tenshiyuri by the early afternoon, and Weiss was looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed after the last few days of roughing it. Progress had been slower than anticipated and, by Weiss’ current estimates, they wouldn’t arrive at Mistral for another several weeks.

She’d just been going over the supplies they had and realised they needed to restock, so she pulled out her wallet to check how much lien she had and swore loudly.

_ ‘What’s wrong?’  _ Neo was immediately by her side, signing worriedly.

“We’re running low on lien.” The white-haired Faunus grumbled, snapping the wallet shut as she did some quick calculations in her head. “If we continue spending as we are, we’ll run out well before we even make it to Kuchinashi.”

_ ‘So we get some more, then. I know several ways.’  _ Neo offered but Weiss shook her head.

“No more stealing, Neo, I don’t want us to draw even more attention to ourselves. And besides, we’re huntresses, not thieves.”

_ ‘Speak for yourself.’  _ Neo snarked back, smirking a little.  _ ‘The day I get given a hunter’s licence will be the day hell freezes over.’ _

“Even so, we should be holding ourselves to a higher moral standard.” Weiss insisted as Neo rolled her eyes at the sentiment.

_ ‘Okay, fine. We do it your way. Which is…?’ _ Admittedly, Weiss hadn’t quite thought of that.

“We can check around town, see if there’s any work that needs doing.” She shrugged whilst Neo gave her a sceptical look.

_ ‘Won’t that just slow us down?’ _

“Maybe? I don’t know, but crime shouldn’t be our first option, Neo. I thought you said you were trying to stick to the straight and narrow.”

_ ‘I am! I’m just trying to get you to realise that sometimes the moral high ground isn’t always a viable option, and I’ll be damned if we get to Haven too late to Cinder gone and your girl dead.’  _ Neo froze at the look of hurt on Weiss’ face.

“Do you think I’m not bitterly aware of exactly how long we have until the deadline? That I’m not constantly worried about Ruby, not knowing where she is or what might have happened to her?” Weiss hissed in anger as Neo blanched, eyes flickering from their usual brown to white. “Yet the first thing that springs to your mind if we get there late is that Cinder might be gone?”

_ ‘Snowflake, I’m sorry, I didn-.‘  _ Neo signed frantically, but Weiss cut her off with a gesture.

“Save it, I don’t want to talk anymore.” She looked around the small clearing they’d parked in, making sure they’d packed everything up. “Let’s get going, then, since you’re so concerned about your grudge against Cinder.” Without another word, Weiss made her way round to the passenger side of the truck and climbed in. After about a minute, Neo climbed in on her side and they drove off in deafening silence.

* * *

The silence lasted the entire morning and all the way until they rolled into Tenshiyuri. It was a rather small town, cobblestone roads and wooden buildings in the Mistral style that Weiss recognised from around Kuo Kuana. Neo parked the truck near the local inn and hopped out without a word. Weiss climbed out after her and watched as Neo walked into the inn, not even checking if Weiss was following.

Sighing deeply, Weiss walked away from the inn and headed off in search of someone in charge who might have work for them. She had been rather harsh on Neo that morning and she should apologise soon. The constant stress of worrying about Ruby was clearly starting to take its toll on her and, compounded with their potential money woes, had really just tipped her over the edge.

Resolving to tell Neo she was sorry for snapping at her once she’d found some kind of official, she flagged down a passing woman. “Um, excuse me? Could you point me in the direction of the town mayor please?”

“Well they ain’t exactly mayors, but Dunn and Brad Streate are pretty much in charge of the town. You’ll find them out by the carpenters’, that way.” The woman gestured helpfully along a side road.

“Great, thank you!” Weiss bowed slightly in thanks and trotted off along the road towards the carpenters’ shop. As she approached, she heard the sounds of sawing and hammering from around the back of the store. Deciding not to stand on ceremony, Weiss made her way around to the side of the store to see two middle aged men hard at work on what looked like some furniture.

“Excuse me? Are you Mr and Mr Streate?” She asked, and the pair looked up from their work at her.

“That’d be us.” One of them confirmed, the other regarding her suspiciously. “I’d be Brad and this is my husband Dunn. How might we be of assistance to you, Miss?”

“I was informed that you two were the nominal leaders of this town.”

“I guess you could call us that, yes.” Brad confirmed, looking to his husband for approval.

“My partner and I just got into town and we’re somewhat low on funds. I was hoping we might be able to do some work for the town in exchange for room and board this evening.” She asked hopefully as Dunn and Brad conferred between themselves.

“Well, I suppose it depends what the two of you can do. No offense but you don’t look particularly strong.” Brad said, Dunn nodding along beside him, though he still looked rather suspicious still.

“We’re both accomplished fighters and I was training to become a huntress at Beacon.” Weiss supplied, moving her cloak out of the way to reveal Penny Dreadful and flashing her old Beacon ID at the pair, taking care to hide her name as she did so. There was a soft gasp from Dunn and his face hardened as Brad stroked his salt-and-pepper beard in thought.

“Former huntress-in-training, eh? I think we might have something you and your partner can do for us.”

“Brad!” Dunn hissed loudly, pulling in close to his husband. “She’s a Faunus, didn’t you see the wings?”

“Yes, I saw her wings, Dunn.” Brad groaned, sounding as though this was not the first time he’d had this sort of conversation with his husband. “And I told you, being a Faunus doesn’t make folks any more of a criminal than anyone else.”

“But she just rolled up into town and said she’s running low on funds. I bet you when we wake up tomorrow all our wallets will be empty and she’ll be long gone.” Dunn continued to glare at Weiss, who shuffled nervously, unwilling to defend herself lest she offend Brad and get herself and Neo kicked out of town.

“Dunn, just go inside and get started on dinner or something, will ya? I’ll sort this out.” Grumbling under his breath about Faunus all being thieves, Dunn complied and stalked off into the house, although not before throwing Weiss one last dark look. “I am so sorry for my husband. I’ve been trying to get him to let go of those ridiculous beliefs, but it just doesn’t seem to be sinking in.”

“It’s fine.” Weiss waved it off. It wasn’t fine, really, but again Weiss didn’t want to offend Brad. “You said there might be something I can do for the town.”

“Yes, there is, actually, and it’s something I reckon someone with your particular skill set can deal with rather neatly. We’ve been having problems with a Beowulf pack nearby. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem, we can fight off a Grimm or two no problem, but this pack’s at least twenty strong and we’ve had a few injuries the last time they came around.”

“If it’s that bad, how come the council haven’t sent aid, or the town hired some hunters to do the job?” Brad laughed humourlessly at Weiss’ question.

“The Mistral council never gave a toss about us living out here in the wilds even before The Fall and we can’t afford to hire a professional team of hunters. Fuckers price gouge like nobody’s business.” Weiss frowned at this. Was that really the reality of hunters? She’d known the image Ruby had presented of the job was somewhat idealised, but council’s not caring about outlying villages? Hunters charging extortionate prices for their services? This was a far throw from even Weiss’ more jaded view of the world.

“But if you and your partner would be willing, if you clear out the pack, I’d be happy to talk to Silvie over at the inn about putting you two up for the night.”

“That does sound acceptable. I’ll need to talk to my partner first though.” Brad nodded in understanding.

“By all means, bring them back here if you like.”

“Of course, I’ll be back soon.” She agreed and headed off back towards the inn. Hopefully Neo would still be there and not have wandered off like she did back in Shiroyuri, accidentally sending Weiss into a panicked wild goose chase as she tried to track down her errant partner.

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief when she entered the inn to see Neo perched at the bar. She was less relieved, however, by the small collection of glasses beside the pastel girl.

“Neo?” She spoke, tentatively approaching her partner and taking a seat beside her. “You alright?”

_ ‘What do you think?’  _ Neo’s signs were a little clumsy, her face set in a dejected frown as she downed another strawberry sunrise.

“I think maybe you’ve had enough of those.” Weiss gently lowered Neo’s hand as she tried to gesture for another drink. “Could I get a glass of water for her instead, please?”

_ ‘Just leave me alone.’  _ Neo grumbled, though she did accept the glass of water and sipped at it slowly.

“Neo, I’m sorry for getting mad at you and shouting earlier. I was stressed and upset, but I should never have taken that out on you.” Neo remained silent, still sipping at her water. Once she’d finished, she set the glass down and turned to face Weiss properly.

_ ‘I went too far earlier. I’m sorry. I know you’re just as anxious as I am to get to Mistral. We’ve both been getting stressed out by this whole trip.’  _ Weiss nodded in agreement, smiling a little and pulling Neo into a soft hug.

“Next time we should just skip to this bit.” She suggested with a chuckle, and Neo nodded against her before reluctantly pulling back to sign.

_ ‘I’m still feeling pretty antsy though, and the drinking didn’t take off as much of the edge as I’d hoped.’ _

“Well, I think I have just the thing to help us let off some steam.” Neo cocked her head curiously. “I found us some work. There’s a pack of beowolves that have been attacking the town. All we have to do is clear them out.” A predatory grin wormed its way onto Neo’s face, one that was probably mirrored on Weiss’ own. It had been far too long since either of them had been in a real fight.

_ ‘What are we waiting for then?’  _ Neo scooped up the hat and Hush, laying down a few lien on the bar before sauntering towards the entrance, Weiss trailing after her.  _ ‘Where do we go?’ _

“To the carpenters’. The guys in charge of the town work there, they’ll have the rest of the information we’ll need. Just please don’t try to strangle the one if he says anything… impolite about my heritage.” Neo scowled, but nodded in reluctant agreement as Weiss led the way back to the shop, arriving there in short order to find Brad waiting for them out front.

“I take it this is your partner, then?” He said, eyeing up Neo critically. “Rather scrawny, isn’t she? Doesn’t look like she puts up much of a fight.” Weiss saw Neo’s eyes narrow, hand subtly moving to undo the clasp on Hush and the tell-tale glimmer of her semblance beginning to activate.

“Neo! There’s no need for a practical demonstration.” She hissed and, reluctantly, the pastel girl reclasped Hush, though not without giving Weiss a sulky look. “Please rest assured, Mr Streate, Neopolitan is an incredibly competent combatant, even more so that I am.”

“Well, I guess I’ll take your word for it.” The man acquiesced, though he was now regarding Neo with a more cautious eye. “I take it then that you’re willing to do the job for us?”

“Yes. In exchange for room and board, we’ll clear out the pack.” There was a soft tap on her arm and Weiss looked to see what Neo wanted.

_ ‘No money?’ _

_ ‘We only need the room, we aren’t so hard up we need more money. We just have to be more careful with our spending.’  _ Weiss signed back before returning her attention to Brad. “Sorry about that, just needed a quick consult on something. We’re both amenable to the terms. Do you know where the pack’s den is?”

“Best we can tell it’s somewhere to the east of the town.” He gestured in the appropriate direction. “Though I imagine it wouldn’t take you long to find them, most anyone venturing too far into the woods gets attacked by them sooner or later.”

“Right. We’ll be back later.” Weiss jerked her head at Neo and led the way away, Brad wishing them good luck as they went.

“Okay, he said the pack was about 20 strong. We can clear that up before dinner no problem.” Weiss said, mostly to herself, as she checked Lilie der Rache was fully loaded with Dust.

_ ‘You sure? I’ve never fought Beowolves before.’  _ Neo signed, now looking a little bit nervous.

“We took on that giant Deathstalker back on Menagerie and you were fine then.”

_ ‘There were four of us and it was just one Grimm, this is different.’ _

“If you want, I can call this off if you don’t think you’re going to be okay. It’s not a problem.” Neo shook her head firmly at the offer.

_ ‘No, I’ll be fine. If I’m sticking with you for the foreseeable future, Grimm hunting’s going to be a pretty big part of that.’ _

“It does come as part and parcel of being a huntress.” Weiss chuckled quietly, satisfied Lilie was in fighting condition and pulling out Penny dreadful next. “Have you considered becoming one? An official huntress, that is.”

Neo blinked in surprise at the question before slowly signing.  _ ‘I’m not sure I’m really huntress material. Hunters are supposed to be heroes protecting the world, and I’m definitely not a hero.’ _

“You looked pretty heroic to me when you were saving me from that mob back in Dolmen.” Weiss smirked at the blush that crept across Neo’s face as she rapidly signed back.

_ ‘That wasn’t out of heroism or anything, I was saving you because I was into you.’ _

“I don’t know, you’ve done quite a few other heroic things.” Weiss was enjoying teasing Neo about this, and she looked so adorable blushing furiously, though for some reason the blush was now fading and being replaced with a far more sombre look.

_ ‘I’ve done a lot of villainous things too. Far too many to count or atone for. Believe me, snowflake, I’m no hero.’ _

Oh.

Snapping her sword back to her belt, Weiss reached out and pulled Neo into a tight hug that would rival one of Yang’s. Of course, Weiss also had the advantage of a large pair of wings, which she wrapped around them as well.

“I don’t care about who you were, Neo. I care about who you are now. You’re a good person, never forget that.” Weiss insisted as she ran her fingers through Neo’s silky soft locks whilst Neo buried her face into the crook of Weiss’ neck, as she was wont to do whenever they hugged. Eventually they had to break apart, the blush having returned to Neo’s face and Weiss equally red as she cleared her throat.

“Anyway, we should probably hunt down those Beowolves before it gets too dark.” Neo nodded a little too enthusiastically and they continued on towards the edge of the town and out into the forest, fingers gently entwined.

* * *

“Neo, duck!” The pastel girl obliged as Weiss fired Penny Dreadful, scorching a hole in the chest of a Beowolf that had nearly outflanked Neo. Brad had not been wrong about it not taking long to find the pack. They‘d only been walking for half an hour when they heard the growling, as the pack emerged from the surrounding trees.

Thus the pair found themselves fighting tooth and nail against a pack that was bigger than had been initially pitched. Weiss had felled at least fifteen and still there were more as well as no sign of the pack alpha.

Neo popped up from her duck and darted back over to Weiss, who quickly conjured a glyph for the girl to use as leverage to hurl herself back into the fray, blade flashing in the late afternoon light. Weiss rolled out of the way of a slashing claw and returned the favour by bisecting the beast with a swipe from Penny Dreadful.

Beowolves weren’t particularly dangerous on their own and were rather easy to dispatch. The problem lay in the fact that you rarely met a single Beowolf, and it was incredibly easy to get overwhelmed by the tide of darkness.

It was fortunate, then, that Weiss and Neo had each other to watch their backs as they carved a swath of death through the pack. It was almost easy, despite Neo’s reservations, to the point that Weiss was willing to field test a few new techniques she’d practised with Neo.

“Neo!” She called out, spinning Lilie around to Lightning Dust. “Flash freeze!” There was a whistle of acknowledgement from across the battlefield and Neo was by Weiss’ side in seconds, a copy of herself shattering between a Beowolf’s jaws. The pastel girl smirked gleefully as Weiss finished channelling her aura and summoned a time dilation glyph beneath Neo.

Weiss blinked and Neo was gone, leaving in her wake half a dozen smoking Grimm corpses as the already fast girl sped around the small clearing. Weiss had to wonder, if this was how fast Neo was with time dilation, just how fast could she get Ruby to go using the same technique?

As she contemplated the idea, there was a loud howl from behind her, and she turned to see the alpha Beowolf finally emerge from the trees, snarling and slavering as it fixed its red eyes upon her. It barely made it two steps before a pink, brown and white figure materialised in front of it, curtseyed and then vanished again. The Alpha appeared to stand there in confusion for a moment before it fell to pieces, smoke billowing out of it as the clearing fell silent as the last few Beowolves were finished off. Weiss, however, could only sigh in mild irritation.

“Neo! What was I said about letting me finish off the big ones?” She asked of her partner who came to a halt beside Weiss, the glyph now wearing off.

_ ‘That I should let you finish them off so you can add them to your summons?’  _ Neo smiled only a little guiltily.

“And what was it you just did?”

_ ‘Finished off that Alpha Beowolf.’ _

“You did indeed.”

_ ‘But you’ve already got loads! You’ve got your Knight, Beowolves, Ursas, Nevermores and that giant Deathstalker.’ _ Neo pointed out and Weiss just huffed.

“That’s not the point. It’s not like there’s a limited number of summons I can have, so gaining more is always good. Also, I don’t know if I have the Deathstalker. My Arma Gigas killed it, not me.”

_ ‘But the summons are an extension of yourself, right? I don’t see why it wouldn’t be available to you.’ _

“Maybe not, but I’m too tired right now to see if I can. Let’s just take some pictures to prove we killed the pack and get back to the town. I am dying for a decent meal, a shower and an actual bed.” Neo nodded in agreement, the exhaustion from being time dilated starting to take its toll now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

Wearily, Neo pulled out her scroll and snapped a few pictures of the dissolving Grimm corpses with Weiss in the foreground as proof. She was pretty sure they wouldn’t need them, but it wouldn’t hurt. Satisfied, the pair started to make their way back to town, Weiss propping up the tired Neo as they walked.

“You know, Neo, after that performance, I’d say you’d make a pretty good huntress.” Neo made a grumbling sound, but didn’t protest Weiss assessment as they disappeared into the trees, once again hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, they had their first fight and made up! And poor Neo, it's a good thing she has Weiss to encourage her or who knows what pit she'd fall down. We're chugging steadily along towards Mistral and the plot, but we still have a few more stops before we get there. 
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and putting up with my ramblings.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	37. Chapter 37

“Well, I’m sorry for ever doubting you, Miss Neo.” Brad addressed the smirking girl, looking up from the scroll she held out for him so he could see the pictures of the slaughtered Grimm. “It looks like you got all of them.”

“We can’t be sure.” Weiss chipped in, feeling pride swell in her chest at the compliment to Neo’s skills. “There could still be some stragglers that weren’t part of the main pack, but we eliminated the Alpha and all the Grimm in the immediate area.”

“We can handle any survivors that come sniffing around, and I’d say you’ve more than earned your keep for the night. If you want to stay longer, you’re more than welcome to.”

“Thank you for the offer, but we’ve got friends waiting for us in Mistral.” Weiss politely refused, though a thought did occur to her. “I don’t suppose a group of four teens led by an incredibly optimistic girl in a red cloak passed through here recently?”

“Nope, sorry. Ain’t seen nobody like that passing through here.” Brad scratched the side of his head in thought. “Truth be told, we don’t have many people passing through these days. Not that we had many in the first place, mind, but people are sticking to the big cities these days, and the roads of Anima are even more dangerous now.” Weiss and Neo cast worried glances at one another.

“How so?” Weiss asked nervously. They hadn’t encountered anything particularly troublesome, save for a few Boarbatusks Neo had gleefully run over, despite Weiss’ warnings of punctured tyres.

“Well, with the kingdom pretty much in chaos, the bandit tribes have been getting more and more daring. They’re attacking towns now. I heard a few weeks back that Shion Village out west got completely destroyed after bandits attacked and attracted a horde of Grimm.”

“That sounds horrible.” Weiss intoned quietly as Neo nodded in agreement, looking uncharacteristically sober.

“Having to deal with Grimm is the price of the freedom to live out from under the thumb of the council. But an entire horde? Vale barely held out during The Fall, from what I’ve heard.”

“It was…” Weiss’ eyes clouded over as she remembered the destruction, the Grimm running rampant, the bodies lying unmoving on the ground. She only just about noticed Neo tugging at her arm, pulling her out of her daze. “It was bad.” She finished, pushing back the memories back into their box.

“I can’t even imagine.” Thankfully Brad didn’t seem to have noticed Weiss’ short break from the present. “Anyway, I’ve kept you ladies long enough. Thank you again for taking out those Beowolves, we’re all mighty grateful.”

“It was no trouble.” Weiss reassured Brad, waving goodbye and leaving the carpenters’ shop and heading back into the main town with Neo. “You want to look around town? We’ve got the rest of the afternoon to kill.” The diminutive girl nodded agreeably, linked her arm with Weiss’ and flipped open Hush as though they were some couple out on the town for an afternoon promenade. Which they were, sort of, anyway.

Rolling her eyes at Neo’s theatrics, Weiss accepted the interlinking of their arms as they strolled back into the centre of the small town. It was approaching late afternoon by now and some of the stalls lining the main street were starting to close up. It was so much more relaxed here than Kuo Kuana, no crowds to force your way through, no constant low rumble of chatter. Weiss actually quite missed it. She’d always hated the long silent hallways of Schnee Manor and she’d gotten very fond of the noise that came with living with Ruby and Yang. It felt like home. Even when she was alone with Neo, she never thought of it as silent. Even though Neo almost never made a sound, her mere presence had a loudness to it that Weiss had grown to love.

It still felt a little strange to think of her feelings toward Neo as love, but there really was no denying it. Even though they’d only known each other for a few months, something Weiss had worried about a little, at least until Blake had pointed out she and Ruby hadn’t known each other for very much longer before they started dating.

Come to think of it, the anniversary of when the two of them started dating was coming up in about a month. With luck, they’d be reunited before then, and Weiss never wanted to leave Ruby’s side again. She still believed she’d done the right thing in leaving to hunt down Blake, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t been hard. But it was like Blake had said, she didn’t regret a thing about meeting Neo, staying on Menagerie and connecting with her heritage. She just wished she hadn’t had to leave Ruby behind to do so.

But it would all be irrelevant soon. She and Ruby would be reunited, Blake would rejoin them and they would stop the attack on Haven. Then they could all head back to patch and sort things out with Yang and then…

What would they do once Team RWBY was whole once more? Weiss had her doubts that whatever conspiracy was behind The Fall ended with Haven. Cinder and her lackeys were just the beginning, if Qrow and Taiyang’s hushed conversation about ‘Her’ was to be believed.

Her train of thought was broken by a soft nudge at her side from Neo, who handed Hush over so she could sign, though it was still a little awkward as she refused to disentangle her arm from Weiss’.  _ ‘Lien for your thoughts? You looked a little lost in them.’ _

“I was just wondering what we’d do after Haven and getting Yang.” Weiss told her as she perused a fruit stand as they walked past. “I imagined we’d continue hunting down the conspiracy once we’d dealt with Cinder. I suppose enrolling in another academy is possible, but that just feels…”

_ ‘Pointless after everything that’s happened?’  _ Neo suggested, a wry grin twisting her face. ‘ _ You survived The Fall pretty much unharmed, fought loads of Grimm as we travelled thousands of miles and helped at least in part with the founding of a new Faunus Rights movement. I don’t think there’s much left for you to learn from an academy.’ _

“I wouldn’t say pointless. But it feels… wrong to just spend time in classrooms learning about tree sap when I could be out there, using my skills to help people and stop evil.” Weiss shrugged, swinging Hush in circles as she thought things over.

“It would be arrogant for me to say I’ve got nothing left to learn, but I think the last several months have proven I’m more than capable of surviving out in the world, especially if I have you and the rest of my family with me.” There was a soft bump on her shoulder as Neo headbutted Weiss affectionately.

_ ‘You really think of me as family?’ _

“Of course I do, and no matter what happens between us and what Ruby says about us, you will always be a part of that.” Neo sniffed loudly and swiped at her eyes with her free hand before signing back.

_ ‘Don’t say stuff like that, you’ll make me cry.’  _ She pouted adorably up at Weiss, who could only giggle at the mock outrage.

“Aww, don’t cry. I’m sorry.” Uncoupling herself from Weiss, Neo forced them to come to a halt as she signed quickly.

_ ‘Don’t you dare be sorry for saying that. They’re happy tears. I never thought I’d have anyone again, not after my parents kicked me out, and certainly not after Roman. I am so lucky to have you.’  _ Weiss could feel tears welling up in her eyes too as Neo raised her right hand, thumb extended at a right angle with her pinky and index fingers raised.

“I lo-.” Weiss was interrupted by the distinctive crack of a pistol breaking the relaxed quiet of the afternoon. Weiss had already tossed Hush back to Neo and drew her own sword as more shots rang out, sending people screaming and running for cover. The pair looked around wildly, instinctively moving back-to-back as they searched for the source of the gunfire.

“Ack!” Weiss shrieked as a bullet found its mark, slamming into her shoulder and sparking her aura. When she recovered and looked up again she saw several men and women approaching, wearing a mishmash of armour and armed with far more battered versions of the sorts of rifles and pistols Hong’s guards had used.

Weiss could hear more gunfire off in the distance as Weiss and Neo were surrounded by the bandits. “I don’t suppose you can’t talk our way out of this one, Neo?” Weiss asked, Neo shaking her head, a gleeful grin on her face. “Aaaand of course you’re looking forward to this.” She turned a little to address the bandits. “One warning, you and your gang leave now and no one else needs to get hurt.”

Weiss’ warning fell on deaf ears as the bandits laughed, not lowering their weapons. Under the cover of her cloak, Weiss flicked her wrist to set Lilie der Rache to Earth Dust. “Fine, I did warn you though.”

Moving before the bandits could react she dropped to a knee and slammed her fist into the ground, channeling her aura through the Earth Dust. Neo hopped up and over the shockwave that rocketed out from Weiss, large ripples of earth spreading out and knocking the bandits off balance. Opening haymaker out of the way, Weiss threw herself forwards out of her crouch, Penny Dreadful already raised to strike at the bandit directly in front of her.

He tried to block with his rifle, only for it to be cleaved in two by Weiss’ sword, and he was rewarded with a solid punch to the sternum that sent him reeling backwards. A flick of her wrist and Lilie was switched to Lightning Dust as she rounded on the next few. She could hear Neo laying into more of the group as she pointed at her next targets. Instead of using the Lightning Dust to create a time dilation Glyph, Weiss simply launched a bolt of lightning that jumped between the small cluster, charring them a little as they slumped to the floor.

“Huntresses! We’ve got huntresses!” Weiss spun to face the bandit who was yelling. She’d abandoned the fight and was legging it towards the middle of the town. Switching Penny Dreadful to its pistol form, Weiss took aim and fired, the green laser lancing out and nailing the fleeing bandit in the back. Hopefully no one else heard the warnings.

Wham!

Weiss grunted in shock as something heavy slammed into the small of her back and sent her stumbling forwards. Before she could turn and retaliate, there was a screech of pain, and she whipped her head around to see the man who she presumed to be her attacker being battered by Neo. Her quick, precise strikes slipping through his very clumsy guard and finishing him off with a powerful kick to the head.

As Neo looked around for another unfortunate victim, Weiss noticed another bandit aiming her weapon at the pastel hellion. Another flick and gesture with Lilie and the bandit was frozen solid. It was gross overkill and a waste of Dust, but that bandit had been about to shoot Neo, the absolute nerve of him.

Aiming Penny Dreadful, Weiss took out another couple of bandits with well placed shots whilst Neo went after a few more stragglers. However, these ones seemed to be a little more sensible and were holding back away from the pair. They soon discovered why that wasn’t of help, as Weiss clenched her fist and summoned her Glyphs to launch several lances of ice at them.

This proved to have been a bad idea on Weiss’ part, for when she rounded on the next group and pulsed her aura, nothing happened. She hadn’t refilled Lilie after the attack on the Beowolf pack, thinking she’d be fine for the rest of the day. Well, she was paying for her unpreparedness now.

Swearing softly, Weiss ducked behind Neo as the pastel girl popped open Hush to shield them from a fresh hail of bullets. She heaved a sigh of relief that she still had plenty of Fire Dust left and wheeled out from behind Neo to hurl a fireball at the last few bandits, bowling them over.

The immediate area fell silent, aside from a few groans of pain from the downed bandits and the continuing sounds of combat from the middle of town. As quickly as she could, Weiss popped open her gauntlet and refilled the chambers.

“You think these are the bandits Brad mentioned earlier?” Weiss snapped Lilie back into place and gave the barrel a spin, checking the action was still smooth.

_ ‘Probably. You need to be a pretty big gang if you’re going to attack a town. Not many of those around’  _ Neo confirmed, looking around at the defeated bandits, kicking one over and crouching down to examine them.

“We should keep going. Brad said Shion was destroyed by Grimm attracted to the panic. If we can drive off the bandits, hopefully there won’t be too many Grimm coming.” Weiss rooted around in a pocket for one of her hair ties, but found none. Improvising, she pulled up her hood to keep her hair back out of her face and started to jod towards the sounds of fighting, with Neo following after a moment, still scrutinising the fallen bandits.

The smell of smoke was permeating the air and the sounds of combat. Weiss growled in anger as she rounded the corner onto the main street to see more bandits firing on random civilians as they ran for cover, and the few town guards tried to valiantly fight back. The doors to several houses had been broken down, raided by the attackers as they stole anything valuable that wasn’t nailed down.

Weiss drew back her hand, ready to slam it into the ground and send a trail of earthen spikes at the bandits, but was distracted by the sharp retort of a pistol right next to her. Looking to her side she saw Neo aiming a pistol that was far too big for her at the bandits holding off the town guards, who were now alerted by the gunshot and wheeled to face the pair.

“Where did you get that?” Weiss asked, twisting her hand to raise a wall of stone to protect from the incoming hail of gunfire. Neo merely shrugged and poked around the side of the wall to fire off a couple of shots.

“We’ve got a couple of huntresses, get Vernal and the boss!” The call came from the other side of the wall and Weiss grimaced. She had hoped to find the ringleader of the group quickly so they could end this. Cut off the head, as it were. But she would have preferred it on her own terms.

“Neo, I’m going to get us some more firepower. Keep them busy, will you?” Neo grinned confidently, darted out from cover and shattered, leaving Weiss alone. Taking a deep breath, Weiss concentrated, thinking of all the innocent townsfolk who were counting on her to keep them safe. She needed to be stronger to succeed and protect them.

The summoning glyph span into life before her and the brilliant white hand of her knight clawed its way out. She was so fixated on maintaining the Glyph, Weiss didn’t notice the sound of a blade whistling until it slammed into her side and sent her sprawling. Her concentration broken, the Glyph faded as Weiss righted herself and faced her attacker.

“Well well well. Looks like we’ve got a huntress wanting to play the hero.” A short woman, only a little taller than Weiss, smirked at the slightly singed Faunus, catching a circular blade out of the air as it returned to her. “Maybe you’ll put up more of a fight than the last one.”

Bringing Penny Dreadful to bear, Weiss eyed up her new opponent. Her equipment and weapons were of a higher calibre than the other bandits. This had to be Vernal, or the boss they’d sought to alert earlier. The smirk never left the woman’s face as she raised her own weapons and fired. Weiss neatly deflected the bullets and leaped back as the woman used the shots as a distraction to close the distance between the two.

Weiss was forced on the defensive, parrying and dodging strikes, unable to push back. One of the blades managed to slip past her guard and would have connected if she hadn’t managed to catch it on Lilie.

“Nice weapon. I think I’ll take it from your corpse when I’m done with you.” Weiss shoved hard and forced the woman back and ducking backwards as the woman struck back with her other blade. As Weiss leaned back, a pink and white blur flew over her and kicked Weiss’ attacker square in the chest before shattering.

“Two of you!?” The woman shrieked, spinning to look for Neo, only to take a hard hit from Penny Dreadful as she was distracted, sending her stumbling into a blow from Hush. Pressing the advantage, Weiss flicked her wrist and launched a spear of ice at the woman. The pair kept up the pressure, not giving their opponent an opportunity to fight back, and any time she tried, the other would take advantage and land a blow.

It was too much for the woman, with Weiss landing the final blow, punching her hard in the sternum and sending her sprawling to the ground, aura shattering. Breathing hard, both Weiss and Neo pointed their blades at the fallen foe.

“Call off your bandits now and there’ll be no need for anymore ugliness.” Weiss instructed cooly, though the effect was ruined at least a little by the fact that it was said in between gasps for air.

“That’s not up to me, that’s up to Raven.”

“Raven?” The name sounded familiar to Weiss but she couldn’t quite remember where from. “Where are they?” The woman merely smirked defiantly up at the pair, not saying another word. “Fine, I guess we’ll have to fight the rest of you to find-.”

“Vernal! What’s happening?” A loud voice called out from behind Weiss and Neo. The pair started to turn around when the voice spoke again, quieter and filled with shock.

“Summer?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who it is! As people may have guessed, I've made quite a few changes to Raven's character from canon and I hope y'all like them. In the meantime though, godsdamnit Raven! You interrupted Weiss just as she was gonna be cute!
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and for the virtual headpats.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	38. Chapter 38

Summer? But that was Ruby’s mother’s name. Weiss was halfway through turning when a hand clamped tightly on her arm and pulled her away. Stumbling a little, she looked back to see a static image of herself and Neo left behind as she was pulled around behind the wall she’d formed.

“Neo! What are you doing?” She hissed as the pastel girl dropped the illusion, rendering them invisible.

_ ‘We need to go, now.’  _ Neo’s hands signed frantically, her eyes wide and brilliant white.

“But why?” Weiss was painfully aware that the woman who’d called out was only a few feet away. And something still didn’t sit right in her head. Why had she thought Weiss was Summer Rose? It felt like she had all the pieces, but they weren’t quite fitting together.

_ ‘No time to explain. If we stay, we die.’  _ Neo grabbed Weiss’ wrist and started to tug her to her feet, but froze and threw herself to the floor as something sliced through the air overhead. Weiss looked back at the rock wall in shock as the top half crumbled, leaving a foot high barrier and giving Weiss a proper look at the newcomer.

Weiss didn’t take notice of how tall she was, nor how her black hair cascaded down her back in familiar waves. Her attention was instead drawn to the large white mask covering her whole head, and Weiss jumped to the only logical conclusion.

“White Fang.” But how? Why? None of the other bandits wore masks, and she hadn’t yet seen a Faunus among them. Before she could say anything else, Weiss was jerked to her feet by Neo and pulled back towards the inn and their truck, another illusion left in their place.

They barely made it three paces before a searing pain slammed into Weiss back, sending her crashing to the ground. She rolled over painfully to look back at the woman in the Grimm mask, sheathing her sword after the strike.

“That little trick won’t work on me again.” She growled, voice slightly muffled by the mask as she strode forward. “And you clearly aren’t Summer. So, where did you get her cloak?” Weiss staggered to her feet to face the woman. She could feel the rage emanating from her, but Weiss held her ground, glaring defiantly up into the dark eye slits and pulled back her hood.

“My girlfriend gave it to me.” She spoke calmly, letting her wings flare out from under the cloak’s cover and shielding a still prone Neo. “Although she never told me it belonged to her mother.”

“You… You’re Weiss Schnee.” The woman cocked her head in interest as Vernal staggered up to her side, looking incredibly confused

“Boss, what’s happening?” She asked lowly, massaging her sternum and throwing Weiss an evil glare. “Why aren’t you killing her?” Weiss was honestly rather confused by the whole affair too, having a relatively civil conversation with White Fang , or a bandit, in the middle of a burning town.

“I’m rather puzzled by that as well, aren’t I at the top of the Fang’s hit list?”

“You think we’re White Fang?!” Vernal spluttered, laughing derisively. “What on Remnant gave you that impression?” Weiss wordlessly gestured to the ornate Grimm mask and Vernal’s laughter ceased abruptly.

“If you’re not White Fang, then who are you? And if you are going to kill us, I’d like to see the face of my killer.” Panic and fear was still coursing through Weiss. She had no idea of what was happening right now and Neo was only just crawling to her feet, still looking rather dazed.

“There’ll be no killing today.” The woman pronounced, much to Weiss’ relief and Vernal’s dismay. Slowly, the woman reached up and removed her mask, tucking it under her arm. Weiss’ jaw dropped as she saw the woman’s painfully familiar face and burning red eyes, the last pieces of the puzzle now sliding into place.

“Raven Branwen.” Raven smirked, clearly pleased she’d been recognised. Neo meanwhile was looking between the group and seemed very confused as to why she and Weiss weren’t dead yet.

_ ‘Wait, you aren’t going to kill us?’  _ Raven looked to Weiss for a translation and laughed softly when one was provided.

“Not today, and besides, I couldn’t kill Ruby’s girlfriend without very good reason.” Weiss was about to ask why, but Raven clapped her hands together, drawing the attention of all those nearby. “We’re done here! I think they got the message about not missing payments!” She turned to a rather irritated Vernal. “Round up the others. I imagine we’ve got quite a few injuries thanks to these two.”

“What!? Boss, we aren’t just leaving!” Vernal protested hotly, still shooting Weiss and Neo evil looks.

“Remind me, Vernal, who’s leader of the tribe?”

“You are…”

“Exactly. This whole operation already got way out of hand even before these two got involved, which does remind me.” Raven raised her voice so it could be heard by the few bandits still conscious in the main street. “Which idiot started the fires?! This was supposed to be a shakedown, not a raid!”

Weiss and Neo stood awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do as slowly the rest of the bandits convened around Raven, many of them sporting injuries from the pair. “What do we do now?” Neo shrugged, still looking a little nervous about the whole situation. Weiss herself was more than a little shocked by the turn of events, just happening to run into Yang’s mother. It must be a part of the Gods’ plan, how else could she explain this coincidence? 

“I imagine you have questions you want answering.” Weiss started as Raven approached them, mask still held loosely by her side. “Come with us back to camp and I can explain.”

“No, thank you, we’ve got a long road ahead of us.” Raven’s eyes narrowed at Weiss’ polite refusal.

“It wasn’t a request. I’m already being exceptionally lenient after you injured my men.” Weiss shared a nervous glance with Neo, silently asking what they should do. Neo just shrugged helplessly, though she kept a wary eye on how Raven’s other hand rested on the hilt of her sword.

“Why do you want us to go with you?” Weiss asked shrewdly. “It sounds like we’re the only ones getting anything out of this.”

“I have my reasons.” Raven replied coolly, gaze flickering between the two. “I get the uncomfortable feeling you two are the ones responsible for that pink monstrosity parked outside the inn.” Weiss, being incredibly mature, immediately pointed at Neo.

“The colour was her idea.”

“Of course it was, the little hellion.” Raven glanced down at Neo, who was busy huffing at Weiss for ratting her out. “I’d say it’s good to see you again, Neo, but we both know that would be a lie. Though I will say I am surprised to see you keeping company like this.”

‘Times and people change, Raven.’ Neo met Raven’s gaze smoothly, taking Weiss’ hand after tucking away her scroll, Raven merely raising an eyebrow at the display before turning away.

“Go get your truck. Vernal, go with them and direct them.” The woman scowled, but did as she was told following Weiss and Neo over to their truck.

“I was right about you! You Faunus Are nothing but a bunch of thieves and lowlifes!” A shout from nearby startled Weiss and she turned to see a rather battered Dunn Streate glaring at her. “Working with the Branwen tribe, I knew there was something off with you.” Weiss didn’t bother answering, ignoring the angry man and continuing to walk, giving no sign that his words affected her, though she appreciated the comforting hand squeeze from Neo.

“Dick.” Vernal swore under breath, flipping off Dunn, before noticing the surprised expressions on Weiss and Neo’s faces. “What? I’ve got no tolerance for racism like that. Even if I hate the pair of you and have no idea what the boss wants with you.”

“When I find out myself, I’ll be sure to let you know.” Weiss snarked as they approached the truck. Neo unlocked it so they could climb in, with Weiss electing to squeeze in the middle so she and Neo wouldn’t be separated by the grumpy Vernal.

As they started getting set up to go, a thought occurred to Weiss. “Neo, how come you know Raven?”

_ ‘Everyone who’s been a criminal in Mistral knows about the Bandit Queen of Anima. Roman and I met her a few times, fencing stuff for the tribe. How do you know about her though?’ _

“Believe it or not, Raven is Yang’s mother and, from what I understand of it, romantically entangled with Ruby’s.” Neo blinked in surprise a couple of times and oddly, so did Vernal.

_ ‘That would explain why she stopped me from killing Yang on the train. Do you think she still holds a grudge?’ _

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon. I wouldn’t get your hopes up though, especially if this one is anything to go by.” Weiss jerked a thumb at Vernal who refused to dignify the jab with an answer, still looking rather uncomfortable as Neo put the truck in gear and they rumbled away.

* * *

The drive was possibly even more awkward than the drive into Shiroyuri that morning. Tension crackled in the cab of the truck. The silence was only broken by Vernal giving occasional directions, sending them further into the woods and, much to Weiss’ displeasure, further off the path to Mistral. It had occurred to her and probably several times to Neo that they could just kick Vernal out of the truck and get back on track, now that Raven wasn’t around to make implicit threats.

But she would be lying if she said she wasn’t intrigued by these answers Raven offered, especially if she could possibly get more information about… other things. She hadn’t forgotten that there was something more to The Fall on Ozpin’s side, something Qrow and Taiyang had refused to tell her. It stood to reason that the rest of Team STRQ would know something about it.

There were far too many questions and nowhere near enough answers, and Weiss hated it. Hopefully, this talk with Raven would rectify that issue. That said, Weiss had no idea of how trustworthy Raven was. The woman had left her child as a baby with no explanation and seemed to be running what sounded like a protection racket. Neither of these exactly engendered trust.

All these thoughts and variations upon them ran through Weiss’ head throughout the journey, and it was dark by the time they rolled to a halt outside a palisade wall made of tree trunks. Turning off the engine, Neo followed Weiss and Vernal out of the truck and over to the large entrance gate.

“Welcome to Camp Branwen, I guess.” Vernal grumbled, slamming a fist into the gate a few times until it was opened from the inside by another bandit, who looked rather confused by the presence of the two accompanying the her.

“Vernal, who’re these two? Prisoners or something?” He asked, looking between the slightly battered pair.

“Guests of Raven. What are you doing on gate duty? I thought it was Shay’s day?”

“It is, but he begged off, said he’d be back tomorrow.” The bandit manning the gate rolled his eyes. “And I wouldn’t go near Raven for a bit, she’s pretty pissed at some of the guys.” Weiss was taken aback by this. She would have thought since she was on foot Raven would get to the camp after they did.

“Pfft, I’ll be fine. Raven loves me.” Weiss and Neo exchanged sceptical glances at Vernal’s boast, they certainly hadn’t gotten that impression. 

“Not nearly as much as you love her.” Vernal scowled at the guard, who promptly quailed under the force of her gaze.

“Whatever, come on, you two.” Exchanging another glance, they followed the woman into the camp. The place was, quite frankly, a mess. Random crates piled up wherever, worn tents covered in clumsily applied patchwork and, of course, the bandits lazing around the open area. Weiss instinctively pulled closer to Neo under the gaze of the arrayed bandits. She very much did not like the way some of their eyes roved over her or their lascivious grins. Neo, on the other hand, held herself as tall as she could, eyes looking straight ahead at their destination. A clustered group of bandits gathered around a platform in front of a wooden building upon which Raven stood, evidently lecturing the hapless lowlifes.

“When we left, what was it I specifically said we were there to do?” There was a smattering of murmurs amongst the assembled crowd, but none clear enough to be heard. “I’m sorry, do I have to repeat myself?”

“No, Raven.” a louder call came from the group. “You said that it was a shakedown. No casualties, property damage or thefts.”

“And what did I see once I was done with that carpenter? Fires and several buildings being looted!” Raven glared down at the cowering group. “I don’t know how many times I’ve been over this! We don’t raid and loot towns like that any more! If we did, we’d raze Anima to the ground in a matter of months, and then where would we be?” More murmuring, very cowed and embarrassed murmuring this time.

“I trust this will be the last time I have to go over this. You’re all dismissed.” The assembled bandits dispersed and Raven jumped down from the platform and strode over to the three.

“You’d think after seven years it would sink in.” She grumbled to Vernal, acknowledging Weiss and Neo with a nod.

“They’re impulsive, Raven. They got carried away” Vernal tried to reassure the chief, but it seemed she wasn’t having it.

“Seven years, Vernal! I’ve been tribe leader for eleven, and clearly they still don’t respect me if they’re disobeying my orders like that.” Raven folded her arms in irritation as Vernal made a vague motion that seemed like she wanted to pat Raven on the shoulder, before refraining.

“They do respect you, they’re all just idiots who can’t see the bigger picture.” She insisted firmly, smiling a little when Raven gave her a wan smile.

“If you insist.” She chuckled, unfolding her arms and turning her attention to the two teens. “I know I promised you answers, but it’s getting late and you’re both probably exhausted.”

“It has been a long day.” Weiss agreed, first the argument, then the drive, fighting the Beowolves then the bandits and finally the drive here was all starting to weigh upon her.

“Get some dinner from Marron. Vernal will show you, and you’ll be bunking with her tonight.” Neo couldn’t help but snicker as Vernal spluttered in protest.

“What?! But why?!”

“You failed to keep the others in line this afternoon and you let yourself be beaten by a half-trained huntress and a pint-sized two-bit criminal.”

_ ‘Ex-criminal’  _ Neo signed angrily, Raven laughing once Weiss had translated for her.

“You really have changed haven’t you, Neopolitan?” She shook her head, still chuckling. “I’d love to hear the story of what made Roman Torchwick’s right hand woman go straight, or not, as the case may be.” She shot Weiss a meaningful look that brought a flush to the Faunus’ face. “We’ll talk more in the morning, and you have my word that you’re both under my protection here. No harm’s going to come to either of you, Vernal will make sure of it.” With that, Raven swept away from them, back up onto the platform and through the curtain leading into what must be her hut.

“Come on, then, you two.” Venal grunted, waving for them to follow her around the back of some of the tents and crates to a man standing over a bubbling pot hung over a roaring fire. “Hey, Marron. We’ve got another couple of mouths to feed tonight, tomorrow morning too.” The man grunted in acknowledgment, already ladling out three bowls of what looked like stew.

“Hope your tastes aren’t too refined, Schnee., what with all those fancy dinner parties up in Atlas.” Vernal smirked, passing out the bowls and grabbing a roll from a nearby crate.

“I think you’ll find I’m far less Atlas elite than you might think.” Weiss flapped her wings for emphasis as she took her own roll and dunked it in her own stew. It didn’t taste all that bad, maybe a little underseasoned, but salt probably wasn’t all that high on the list of bandit priorities.

“It must’ve taken guts to handle Jacq-ass and his raging bigotry.” Vernal hoisted herself up onto a crate gesturing for Weiss and Neo to do the same.

“Why, that sounded suspiciously like a compliment.”

“I can respect you whilst still hating you.” Vernal shot back, taking a chunk out of her gravy soaked bread. “You’re not nearly as prissy as I imagined you’d be.”

“I suppose I’ll take what I can get.” Weiss shrugged, scooping some of the meat in the stew up and biting into it, pleasantly surprised to discover it was rabbit.

“First opportunity I get, we’re having a rematch, without the gremlin, and I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“I’d like to see you try.” They fell silent for a few minutes, busy eating their meal. Surprisingly, it was Vernal who broke the silence, sounding more than a little uneasy.

“Who’s Summer?” Weiss hesitated for a moment before answering.

“She’s my girlfriend’s mother, or was at least.”

“And you said she and Raven were… together?”

“I did.” Weiss shot Neo a look. She was pretty sure what this was about, but she really didn’t want to get involved. “I take it you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t even know she had a kid until you mentioned it this afternoon.” Vernal’s eyes were fixed firmly on her stew as she swirled her bread roll through the gravy moodily. “I thought she trusted me, told me everything.” She mumbled under her breath, though Weiss was just able to make out what she was saying. “After everything I’ve done for her.”

Without warning, Vernal dropped her bowl on the crate beside her and hopped down. “I’m going for a walk. My tent’s over there, might as well make yourselves at home.” And not waiting for an answer, she stalked off into the gathering dusk.

_ ‘Well… That was awkward.’  _ Neo had set aside her now empty bowl to talk to Weiss, who nodded in agreement.

“It’s certainly going to be an interesting conversation tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus the Raven doth appear. She certainly seems to be nicer than canon, though who knows what she's really up to bringing our heroes to the bandit camp. And I wonder what Vernal's deal is with Raven...
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so supportive whenever I start to fall behind.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	39. Chapter 39

“What do you mean ‘Raven’s gone’?” Vernal merely smirked from her spot, leaned up against the wall of Raven’s hut. Weiss and Neo’s sleep had not been particularly pleasant. Despite Raven’s assurances that they were under her protection, neither of them were quite so trusting as to take her at her word. As such, they’d taken turns staying up, and Weiss was definitely feeling the effects of not having had a good night’s sleep in the last few days.

“Exactly what I said, Raven’s gone and I don’t know when she’ll be back.”

“She promised us answers. We’ve got places to be, and if she’s not here to deliver them, then we’ll leave.”

“And pray tell, how do you intend to do that? You’re in the middle of the forests of Anima far away from any of the main roads and we ain’t exactly on any maps.” Weiss was sorely tempted to throw a fireball at Vernal’s smug face. She seemed to be taking her punishment with all the grace of a cat being forced to take a bath and had been incredibly irritating after she got back from her walk last night.

“I’m pretty sure I know the way we took to get here.” Weiss sniped back. “It was exactly a difficult route to remember.”

“Fair, fair.” Vernal kept smirking infuriatingly as she reached into a pocket and pulled a piece of metal and tubing out. “Shame then that the boss pulled this out of your engine last night during dinner.”

“What!?”

“Oh yeah, she passed it to me before she left, just so ya knew why your truck wasn’t starting. I doubt either of you have much mechanical knowledge.” Vernal started tossing the engine part back and forth between her hands.

“Give that back.” Weiss gritted out, hand twitching towards Penny Dreadful, though she was unwilling to start a fight without Neo, the pastel girl having gone to fetch them breakfast whilst Weiss went to talk to Raven.

“Please, I would love for the pair of you to get out of my home. But the boss’ word is law, and besides, I’m enjoying watching you suffer.”

“So I presume we won’t be allowed to just walk out of here either?”

“Boss’ orders, and don’t ask me why, she ain’t told me.”

“Seems like there’s quite a bit she hasn’t told you.” It was a low blow, but Weiss would take what she could get to wipe the smug grin off Vernal’s face. “I hadn’t even met her before yesterday, but I already knew she had a daughter.”

“You don’t know the first thing about Raven.” Vernal snarled, kicking off the wall to walk over to the edge of the platform and loom over Weiss. “So what if you know about her ex and her kid, you don’t know  _ her  _ like I do. You don’t know what she’d done for me or the tribe.”

“I know enough.” Weiss put down firmly and turned away. She wasn’t going to get any further antagonizing and arguing with Vernal. Stalking away from the chief’s hut, Weiss ran into Neo bearing two bowls of what looked like dry Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes, each with a spoon.

“Raven’s gone and they disabled the truck” Weiss told Neo in answer to her questioning head tilt. “We’re pretty much stuck here until Raven decides she’s done with us.” Scowling, the pastel girl handed Weiss one of the bowls so she could retrieve her scroll.

‘We could sneak out during the night.’

“Unless you know how to fix a truck engine we’d be on foot and that would take far too long. We’re better off sticking around here and losing maybe a couple of days than traveling by foot and losing weeks.” Weiss reasoned, taking a spoonful of cereal and chomping on it moodily as she led the way away from the centre of the camp and over to some crates off to the side.

_ ‘I wish we knew what exactly she wants with us.’ _ Neo hopped up onto a crate, setting down her scroll and cereal

“It must be something to do with Yang, or maybe Ruby?” Weiss suggested, swallowing down another spoonful of dry cereal. She definitely did not see the appeal of the stuff. How Ruby had been able to consume such vast quantities, she’d never know. “I don’t know what else it could be.” Neo just shrugged, picking up her bowl and happily crunching away at the horrifying mass of sugar.

“You and Ruby, how on Remnant you’re both able to eat this stuff so frequently is beyond me.” Weiss shook her head, reluctantly eating another spoonful. “Sugar fiends, the pair of you.”

_ ‘You love us for it though.’ _

“Yes, I do.” Weiss smiled fondly at Neo, but to her surprise, the pastel girl didn’t return it, a small frown twisting her expression. “What’s wrong?”

_ ‘Since we’re stuck here for a while and you brought her up, have you thought about what you’re going to tell Ruby about me? About us?’  _

“I… I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

_ ‘Haven’t thought about it, or didn’t want to think about it?’  _ Neo eyed Weiss shrewdly as the Faunus shuffled awkwardly and ate another mouthful of cereal to avoid answering.  _ ‘Weiss, we’ll be at Mistral in a matter of weeks, you can’t just ignore this.  _ We _ can’t ignore it.’ _

“I know, I know…” Weiss huffed, eyes fixed firmly on her cereal, stirring it morosely with her spoon. “I have no idea what to say, and all I can think of is how it could go wrong. What happens if Ruby and the others don’t believe that you’ve changed? What do we do then? What will they do to you? And this isn’t even touching how I explain to Ruby that I love both of you and want to date both of you at the same time.”

She was so caught up in her negative predictions that she didn’t notice Neo trying to talk to her, that was until Neo threw a handful of cereal at her head.

_ ‘Don’t think negatively like that, if you expect things to go wrong, then they will. It’s like fighting, if you expect to lose, then you will.’  _

“But there are so many ways it could go wrong.” Weiss all but wailed, letting herself flop back on her crate and gazed up at the sky. “I want things to work out, I really do, but there’s so much to explain.” she stayed prone for a little while, watching the clouds drifted lazily across the sky until a scroll appeared over her head.

‘I’m sorry I put you in this position, Weiss. If it would be better for you, we could part ways when we reach Mistral and call it a day.’

“No!” Weiss bolted upright, nearly knocking Neo’s scroll out of her hand. “We are not doing that. I want you there with me, and this situation is absolutely not your fault. If they don’t trust you or me that you want to be better, that’s their problem, not yours.”

_ ‘They have every reason not to trust me though. I was a thief, a murderer and at least partly responsible for The Fall. Do you really want to tie yourself to an ex-criminal?’  _ Neo frowned, shoulders slumped in dejection.

“I’m tying myself to you, Neo. The self-confessed history nerd who’s been trying so hard and been protecting and supporting me for months. Who travelled halfway across Remnant with me and agreed to help me get justice for my father with no argument.”

_ ‘I don’t deserve this. I’m not a good person and I have too much blood on my hands.’ _

“You absolutely do. I wish you could see what I see in you and I don’t care how long it takes to make you believe that you are a good person.” Weiss shuffled across the crates to pull Neo into a tight one-winged hug. “And you’re right, I shouldn’t think so negatively. Everything will be fine, we’ll make it so it is.”

_ ‘You know what you’re going to tell Ruby, then?’ _

“The truth I guess, I owe her that much. No games or manipulation, she means too much to me to do that. Maybe we don’t introduce you as Neo right away though. If it were just Ruby I would, but she was going to travel with Jaune and the others, and I have no idea how they’ll react.” Neo huffed a little and pulled back to sign.

_ ‘I don’t like it, but I understand.’ _

“You know, I’m surprised you dislike disguising yourself so much.” Weiss commented, remembering Neo’s mild resistance to the idea back when they first arrived on Menagerie.

_ ‘It’s a means to an end, and I’ll use it if I have to. I wasn’t always Neopolitan, but it’s who I am now and I don’t like having to hide that. Especially not when I have you. I’ve got no need for illusions with you.’ _

“I can certainly understand not wanting to hide who you are.” Weiss flapped her wings for emphasis. “And I’m sorry to make you hide yourself like that.”

_ ‘No apologising, it’s not your fault. My decisions brought us here and I’ll deal with the consequences.’ _

“You’re not going to deal with them alone though. You’ll always have me.” Neo smiled and leaned back into Weiss’ side, letting her drape her wing back over her. After a few minutes silence whilst Neo finished her cereal, the pastel girl set aside her empty bowl and looked up to Weiss.

_ ‘What do we do now, then?’ _

“I suppose we wait for Raven and find out what she knows.”

* * *

Raven did not return to the camp that day, nor was she back the day after, and Weiss found herself getting increasingly antsy.

“Where could she be?! She promised us answers and now she’s just left us stuck here!” Weiss ranted to a sympathetically nodding Neo. It was late afternoon and Weiss had spent most of the day irritatedly pacing the camp, watching the gate and snarking at Vernal whenever the bandit got within earshot as she kept an eye on the pair.

_ ‘Maybe we should just sneak out tonight. We’ve waited long enough, we’ll just take the hit and find a new vehicle somewhere else.’  _ Neo suggested as Weiss passed by again, still gesticulating wildly.

“Maybe she’s just keeping us here for ransom or something, although I don’t know who’d pay ransom for the Faunus ex-heiress of the SDC.” At this point Weiss didn’t know what to think about their ‘imprisonment’. At the very least, contrary to her inability to stop the bandits stepping out of line, Raven’s protection seemed to hold. Both Weiss and Neo had gone unmolested during their short stay in the camp, though she was still rather uncomfortable with some of the looks she was getting.

_ ‘Weiss, you’re spiralling again. Try to slow your breathing.’  _ Weiss complied with Neo’s instruction, halting her harried pacing and starting to take slow measured breaths, holding them for eight seconds before releasing.  _ ‘We’ve got a plan. We’ll wait until tonight, and if Raven isn’t back by then, we’ll sneak out, grab what we can from the truck and try to get back on track.’ _

“Okay, yes. That will work. Sorry, I thought I was past those.” Weiss apologised, only for Neo to wave it off.

_ ‘It’s fine, and from what Blake told me, you’re doing far better.’  _ Their attention was drawn to the gate as it was opened and Weiss prayed it was Raven returning. Instead, a man with long dirty blond hair ran in and gathered up a few other bandits, leading them back out of the gate.

“What do you think they’re up to?”

_ ‘Probably found someone who strayed too far from the roads to rob.’  _ Neo shrugged, already losing interest in the bandits leaving, her her cocked towards the chief’s hut, where Vernal stood looking over the camp. Or rather, had stood looking over the camp, Weiss caught a brief glimpse of her ducking through the curtain into the hut.  _ ‘Did you hear that?’ _

“Hear what?” Weiss asked, following Neo’s gaze to the hut.

_ ‘Can’t really describe it, like a small thunderstorm or something coming from Raven’s hut.’  _ Frowning, Weiss started to walk towards the hut, Neo trailing behind in confusion. Weiss was done with games, Vernal had gone into there for a reason and Weiss was going to get answers right now. Climbing up onto the platform, she carefully approached the curtain and scowled when she heard two hushed voices conversing inside.

Quickly checking that Neo was with her, Weiss flung open the curtain and stalked inside. “I’ve had enough of this. You promised us answers so tell us what we want to know, now.” She snarled at the surprised Vernal and the far more composed Raven.

“What are you doing in here?” Vernal snapped back, recovering from her momentary shock.

“I’m pretty sure the part where I said ‘tell us what we want to know’ made it pretty clear.” Weiss sneered, ignoring the soft tugging on her sleeve.

“You don’t get to make demands of the chief, Schnee.”

“I’ll do what I damn well please!” The tugging became even more insistent and Weiss spun to face Neo. “What?!”

_ ‘Weiss, you’re scaring me. This isn’t you. You’re stressed and angry. Please calm down.’ _ Neo pleaded, wide teary eyes gazing up at Weiss and jolting her out of her rage.

_ ‘Damnit, sorry, Neo.’  _ Weiss heaved a deep sigh, calming herself as best she could before returning her attention to Raven and Vernal. “I’m not kidding though, we want answers.”

“Yes, I may have been rather rude in detaining the pair of you for so long, but I’m disinclined to do this more than once. I have better things to do.” Raven sounded completely unapologetic for her actions as she casually strolled around her hut, setting down her helmet and setting a kettle on to boil.

“We have better things to do as well, like getting to Haven and meeting up with Ruby, for example.”

“Yes, I know… Your intentions aren’t exactly subtle nor difficult to discern.” Weiss narrowed her eyes at Raven warily, even more unsure of the woman’s intentions than ever. “Which is why I was forced to delay you for a little while at least.”

_ ‘Why?’ _

“You’ll find out in due course. In fact, I think I can hear her now.” Raven’s enigmatic smirk dropped a fraction as Weiss turned to listen. There seemed to be a commotion going on outside, and it was approaching the hut. “If you’d excuse me for a moment, I need to welcome our new… guest.” Raven’s lip twisted in distaste as she swept past the thoroughly confused Weiss and Neo and out of the hut.

_ ‘I am very confused’ _

“You aren’t the only one.” Weiss muttered, keeping one eye on Vernal as she walked to the curtain Raven had left by to listen in on what was happening outside.

“I see you finally made it. Took you long enough.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t exactly make it easy to find you. I spent years looking for you before.” That voice… No. it couldn’t be. Gesturing for Neo to hang back, Weiss walked out of the hut to see a familiar blonde stood in the centre of a loose circle of bandits, looking defiantly up at Raven. Lilac eyes widened in recognition as Weiss stepped forward into the light.

“Weiss?”

“Yang?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally, Yang makes her reappearance! Only took 39 chapters, but she's back, yay! Now all we need to do is work out what the hell is up with Raven acting so strangely...
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being an absolute sweetheart.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	40. Chapter 40

It couldn’t be real. It had been months, yet here she was. Weiss ran to the edge of the platform and jumped off, crashing solidly into the blonde and pulling her into a tight hug, wrapping her wings around them. It was real. Yang was here and she looked better than ever. A far cry from the pale and slightly sickly young woman Weiss had left in Patch, Yang positively glowed. Her shoulders were broader and Weiss could feel the muscles under her grip. Yang’s skin had darkened to a rich olive, and perhaps the most noticeable change was the bright yellow prosthetic arm that instinctively returned Weiss’ hug.

“I missed you  _ so  _ much.” Weiss mumbled through teary eyes, looking up at Yang who still seemed to be in a state of shock.

“Weiss? What are you doing here?”

“Your mother basically kidnapped me and my… travelling companion a couple of days ago.”

“What?!” Weiss could feel Yang’s body temperature rocket as she glared up at Raven, Weiss retreating from the heat a little.

“Kidnapped is a strong word, I’d say coerced is more accurate.” Weiss scowled up at the incredibly smug smirk on Raven’s face as she looked down at the pair. “If you’re done with your incredibly touching reunion, there are things we need to discuss.”

“I’m not here to discuss anything with you, I’m here so you can send me to Ruby.” Weiss looked to Yang in confusion, so she elaborated. “Her semblance lets her bond with people so she can create portals to them. She’s got one for me, one for dad and one for Qrow, and he’s with Ruby. He promised me he’d look out for her.” Weiss turned her cold glare on Raven and was annoyed when she didn’t flinch like most people did.

“You knew I was looking for Ruby and you could have sent me to her at any time?!” She shrieked in anger at the impassive bandit queen.

“And I will, just as soon as we’ve talked. I’ve put some tea on.” She eyed the shuffling bandits who’d assembled to see what the commotion was about, a few of whom Weiss noticed had a few rather nasty bruises. “Don’t you all have better things to do?” The small crowd began to disperse, though not without a few mutters, as Raven gestured for Weiss and Yang to follow her inside her hut.

Seeing no other useful options, Weiss made to follow Raven, but was stopped by Yang’s hand on her shoulder. “I don’t like this. Raven doesn’t have a caring bone in her body from what I’ve heard and I don’t know what she’s doing.”

“Neither do I, but we don’t have many other choices, and if she can send up to Ruby, I think we should listen to what she has to say.” Nodding reluctantly, the pair slowly walked to the platform.

“Hey, Weiss.” The Faunus paused at the foot of the stairs leading up to the hut. “I missed you too.” A wide grin grew on Weiss’ face as she held out a hand for Yang to take, which she did with her prosthetic. It was surprisingly warm to the touch and the grip was firm like it had been before. Weiss led the way up the steps and into the hut, only to bump into a short girl with black hair and green eyes, looking up at her in mild irritation.

Weiss nearly swore. In her excitement and joy at reuniting with Yang, she had completely forgotten Neo was here in the hut. She did allow herself some small relief that Neo must have heard the commotion outside and taken preemptive steps.

“Is this your travelling companion, Weiss?” Yang entered the hut behind Weiss and regarded the disguised Noe with curiosity.

“Yes, this is Liquorice. Liquorice, this is Yang.” Weiss glared at Vernal, who was trying poorly to stifle laughter as Yang and ‘Liquorice’ shook hands, the shorter girl taking notice of the prosthetic with interest.

“Now that the introductions are done, please do sit.” Raven interrupted from her seat on the floor behind a table as she poured tea into four cups. “Vernal, if you could wait outside.” The woman looked ready to protest, mouth already half open, before it clicked shut and she left without a word.

Silently, the remaining three sat opposite Raven, Weiss in the middle, with Yang and Neo flanking her. After a few moments, Yang broke the silence. “So, what did you want to tell us?” Raven didn’t answer immediately, instead taking a sip from her cup.

“There’s a lot you three need to know if you’re going to protect Ruby on her foolhardy quest.” She finally spoke, setting down her cup and looking between the three teens. “And I suppose there’s no better start than at the beginning.” Yang groaned in annoyance.

“Can’t you spare us the lecture?”

“Everything I’m about to tell you is important, Yang.” Raven chided, still maddeningly calm in the face of their irritation though Weiss noticed her nose wrinkle as she addressed Yang. “Did Qrow ever tell you why we joined Beacon academy?” Yang shook her head and Rave smirked. “I’m not surprised. We didn’t join to make the world a better place like you or your sister. We were sent to learn how to kill hunters.”

Weiss felt Yang stiffen in shock beside her and Neo cocked her head curiously. Weiss, for her part, didn’t know what to think. She’d only known Qrow for a little over a month whilst he trained her on Patch, so this knowledge didn’t really affect her, Yang on the other hand…

“The only thing that threatened the tribe other than the Grimm were hunters, and the leaders were looking for a way to counter them. And it just so happened Qrow and I were the right age to enroll.” Raven paused to let her words sink in, taking another sip of tea. “We were good, possibly too good. We caught Ozpin’s attention and he kept an eye on us, even after we were put on a team. I thought it was because he knew what we were there for. It turned out I was wrong, he was interested in the whole team.”

“What’s all this supposed to do with Ruby?” Yang interrupted, looking even more annoyed.

“I’m getting there.” Raven snapped, scowling at her daughter. “As I was saying, Ozpin took a particular interest in Team STRQ. Extra training missions, almost constant attention, turning a blind eye whenever we happened to break a rule or two and got into trouble. Any of this sound familiar?” Weiss shuffled awkwardly, recalling all the times Ozpin had done the same for them.

“And your point is…?”

“How much do you know about Ozpin? His past?” Yang exchanged a glance with Weiss who shrugged.

“He was a prodigy, the youngest headmaster to ever be appointed.” She supplied, looking back to Raven, unsure of where this was going.

“That’s because he set up the system that way. He has followers throughout the academies who are loyal to him and him alone.”

“But how?! That makes no sense! Why would anyone do something like that?” Weiss sat in silence, blindly reaching out for Neo’s hand for comfort. The whole conversation had taken an unnerving turn.

“Because... he has secrets. Ones that would tear the world asunder if they got out. Ones that he entrusted to us… eventually.”

“What are they then? What hasn’t he told us?” Yang stared unflinchingly into her mother’s eyes as Weiss gripped harder to Neo’s hand, a dark sense of impending doom settling over her.

“Ozpin has lived hundreds, if not thousands of lifetimes, reborn into a new body after each death. Not only that, but he wields powers like you could never imagine, powers you could call magic. And worst of all… The creatures of Grimm…” Raven hesitated for a moment, uncertainty flickering across her face. “They have a master, named Salem. She is eternal, she can’t be stopped, nor reasoned with and she will stop at nothing until humanity is nothing but ash.”

Silence fell in the tent as the three teens tried to process this revelation. “I-It can’t be. The creatures of Grimm were created by the God of Darkness to destroy his brother’s work and then left as a test of Humanity’s resolve.”

“I should have guessed you’d be a follower of the Church of Two Brothers.” Raven mused as Neo squeezed Weiss’ hand, though she too looked equally ill. “But this isn’t theology, Weiss. It’s all real.”

“Why should we believe you?” Yang asked quietly, eyes dull and unhappy but her voice didn’t waver.

“Because, unlike Ozpin, I don’t hide the truth.” Raven’s eyes burned angrily as she spoke. “He drip-fed us half-truth after half-truth. Only telling us what he thought we needed to know whilst we were risking our lives for him. Of course, Summer never saw it that way.”

“Is that why you left her?”

“Ozpin’s lies tore us apart! She couldn’t see that we were just pawns in a war, as long as she devoted herself to his cause we could never work! Tai understood, he wanted no part in it from the start and we all should have followed his example.”

“So you hooked up with him and had me then? Because he understood you?” Raven’s eyes turned cold at Yang’s question and she fixed her with an unfeeling stare.

“You were a mistake, Yang.”

“what.”

“I was drunk and I slept with Tai. It was a mistake.” Raven repeated coldly. “After that mistake, I had nowhere else to go but home, and I’ve done more good here than I ever could have on Patch.” Yang remained silent, tears starting to roll down her face as Weiss let go of Neo in order to shuffle over to Yang and lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, glaring at Raven as she did so.

‘More good?! You lead a bandit tribe and rob people! You destroyed Shion village.’ Neo thrust her scroll into Raven’s face, Weiss barely catching a glimpse of what was written on it.

“Before I took the leadership, this tribe would annihilate villages without a care and any dissent would be dealt with with a sword. Tell me I haven’t changed the tribe for the better by stopping the raids. Shion was destroyed because they refused to pay tribute, and I don’t think  _ you  _ are in any position to judge me.” Raven challenged Neo, who withdrew silently, unable to articulate a response.

“You’re still destroying the villages. You may not be wiping the villages off the map, but you’re still bleeding them dry. You think you’re a kind and good person because you’re a little merciful, but you’re deluding yourself.” Weiss snapped, drawing a baleful glare from Raven.

“Summer believed I was a good person and I trust her judgement.”

“And I trust mine, and so far you haven’t given us a reason to believe you other than your claim that you don’t hide the truth.”

“You want proof? Fine, follow me. I’ll prove that men can come back from the dead, that the Grimm have a master and that magic is real.” Rising from her seat, Raven walked over to the back of the hut and left through another curtain. None of the three girls moved from their seats, Yang was trembling a little beneath Weiss’ reassuring hand.

“Yang…?”

“I-I knew she didn’t care about me.” Yang’s voice was tremulous and it reminded Weiss uncomfortably of the bathroom back at Beacon during the dance. “But to hear her say it, right to my face…”

‘I’m sorry, I know what it’s like to have parents who don’t care about you.’ Neo’s scroll appeared in front of Yang’s face. ‘Mine kicked me out when I was eight, the moment I stopped being useful to them. If I thought I had a chance of beating her, I’d absolutely beat the shit out of you mom for saying that to you.’

Yang snorted through her quiet tears and swiped at her face roughly with her gloved hand. “Thanks for the offer, Liquorice, and I’m sorry your parents did that to you.” Weiss nodded in agreement, reaching out with a wing to squeeze Neo softly.

“Do you think you’ll be okay, Yang?”

“Yeah, I will. As soon we’re away from that woman and back with Ruby.”

‘Should we follow her or…?’

“I think so.” Weiss got up, stretching and flexing before offering a hand each to both Neo and Yang.

“You don’t really believe her about all this talk of magic, right?” Yang asked the other two as they walked out of the hut and into what could pass for a back garden were they not in the middle of a bandit camp.

“Of course not, it’s ridiculous. Dust and Semblances have explanations, but magic? Only the gods have powers like that.” Weiss insisted, looking around the small area for Raven. Neo, however, shrugged noncommittally as she joined in Weiss search for Raven. “Where could she have gone?”

There was a loud caw from nearby, drawing their attention to a large corvid in a tree, Weiss didn’t know enough about birds to properly identify it though. Unless… But it couldn’t be. It was too obvious, too on the nose.

“I think I’ve seen that bird before.” Yang mused, watching as it took off into the now darkening sky, wheeling away before spinning in mid-air and racing towards them. Weiss was both surprised and unsurprised when the diving bird stopped being a bird and instead was Raven, landing with a thump on the ground. Nevertheless, she could feel her jaw gape at the woman as she straightened up and she was certain her companions had similar looks of shock.

“H-How did you do that?” Yang asked, voice strangled by shock and surprise.

“A little gift from Ozpin to me and Qrow, you can ask him for more details. I’ve told you the basics of what you need to know to protect Ruby now that she’s gotten herself wrapped up in Ozpin’s war.”

“Again you’re talking about protecting Ruby. Why are you so fixated on that?” Weiss asked once the power of speech had returned to her.

“Ruby is the last piece of Summer left on Remnant. I would do anything to protect her.” a dark silence fell over the group that was eventually broken by Yang chuckling darkly.

“Of course, it’s not even because you care about Ruby.” Raven opened her mouth to protest, but Yang kept talking. “You complained just now about being used as a pawn, yet you’re doing the exact same thing because you can’t seem to let go. We’re done here, you’ve said your piece, now make us a portal to Qrow.”

There was a moment’s pause, then Raven drew her blade, Weiss and Neo backing off slightly as she did so. But all she did was swipe it through the air, creating a red and black hole in the air that crackled with faint sounds of thunder.

“I need to get Bumblebee, do you two need to get anything before we go?” Yang asked, now completely ignoring Raven and starting to walk around the hut towards the main area of the camp, Weiss and Neo trailing after her.

“We left a few things in the truck we should probably take with us.” Weiss followed Yang’s lead in ignoring Raven. She felt, manipulated, used. Raven had brought them here, delayed them just to further her own agenda without telling them why until now. For all her talk of Ozpin hiding things and holding back the truth, Raven didn’t seem to notice her own hypocrisy.

“Please don’t tell me that pink… thing parked outside the camp is yours.” Yang groaned, though a small note of humour slipped into her tone, relieving Weiss a little.

“We didn’t have that many options to travel across Anima and on foot was not an option, not with the information we need to get to Haven academy.”

“What information?”

“I’ll tell you later when we meet up with the others and we aren’t surrounded by a tribe of bandits.” Nodding in agreement, Yang fell silent as they approached the gate and after a sharp glare from Yang, the guard opened it up, revealing Yang’s beloved motorcycle parked to the side near Weiss and Neo’s stolen truck.

“No point taking the truck itself, and I’d hate for your mother’s portal to take us inside a house if we were to take it.” Weiss commented as Neo unlocked the vehicle and opened up the back whilst Weiss went round to the cab and started retrieving various items that might be useful later. “Not to mention it’s broken, your mother removed something from the engine so if they can fix it they’re welcome to it.”

“Can… Can you please stop calling Raven my mother, Weiss?”

“Of course, I’m sorry.” The three fell silent again as they collected their things. Once they’d removed everything of value from the truck, Weiss and Neo started back to the camp, Yang wheeling Bumblebee alongside them. As they passed by Raven’ hut, Weiss noticed Vernal leaned moodily up against the entrance to the makeshift building.

The woman didn’t acknowledge their presence, though she did fix Yang with a curious gaze until they left her line of sight. The three rounded the side of the hut to see Raven waiting, tapping her foot impatiently, the portal still swirling ominously beside her.

“You three done now?” None of them answered, save for Neo throwing the keys to the truck at Raven, who caught them out of the air without another word. Silently, the three teens approached the portal. Weiss took a deep breath and was about to step through when she was stopped by Yang who addressed Raven without even bothering to look at her.

“I’m not doing this because of you. I’m going to Ruby because she’s my sister and I love  _ her _ .” Not waiting for an answer, Yang walked through the portal with Bumblebee. As Weiss and Neo hastily followed, Weiss could have sworn she heard Raven say something that sounded like ‘sorry’, but it was lost to the swirling vortex as she and Neo stepped through.

It was an intensely nauseating sensation and Weiss stumbled out of the other end of the portal, trying to keep herself from losing her lunch. Looking up, Weiss was met with an incredible view off a cliff and over what must be the city of Haven

“Mini ice queen too?” Weiss looked over at the familiar gravelly voice to see Qrow being hugged by Yang as she heard the portal snap shut behind her and Neo heaving silently. That wasn’t what caught Weiss’ slightly disoriented attention, however.

“What is that you’re wearing?” She asked, pointing at Qrow’s legs.

“It’s a combat skirt, I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with the concept.” He said dryly as Yang let go of him, still looking rather shaken by their meeting with Raven. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Liquorice.” Weiss introduced Neo, who stood up straight, eyes flickering around nervously. “We’ve been travelling together for a while.”

“I see…” Qrow stroked his five o’clock shadow, scrutinising Neo closely. “You look familiar… But then again a lot of people do. Nice to meet ya, short stuff.” Neo scowled a little at the nickname whilst Weiss stifled a snort.

“Uncle Qrow, where’s Ruby?”

“Oh, she and the others are back at the house. We got here a couple of weeks ago. There’s a lot to fill you in on.”

“Maybe not as much as you think. Raven told us about Ozpin, and about Salem.” Qrow let out a deep groan at Weiss words, rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation.

“Of course she did, of course.” He started walking away, prompting the three teens to hastily follow him. “Since you’ve heard Raven’s version of things, I guess you’d better hear Oz’s.”

“Did he come back then?”

“And she told you that as well.” Qrow grumbled, stuffing his hands in his skirt pockets. Weiss would have to ask him where he got it from, hers had never had pockets.

“It’s all true then?”

“Yep, but I think it’s better if I let Oz explain it. I did a shit job with Ruby and the others.” Qrow led them along a few cobbled streets, Weiss could see what Neo had meant by Menagerie having Mistralian influences in its architecture. However, the houses here were all made of stone, compared to the wooden buildings of Kuo Kuana.

Eventually Qrow led them to a fairly large house, fairly close to the academy which rose high above them at the peak of the joined mountains that formed Mistral. Yang propped Bumblebee up by the side of the house as Qrow opened the door and called out. “Hey! Ruby!” There was a loud clattering as the three followed Qrow inside, closing the door behind them.

“I’m coming!” Weiss nearly burst into tears at the sound of the sweet piping voice that replied. It had been so long since she’d heard that voice, it took all her self-control not to go running after its source. Then she appeared, rounding a corner with her attention on balancing an overloaded teatray and looking more beautiful than ever before. “So, we didn’t know how many people you were bringing so we just cooked all the food and-.” Ruby stopped mid-sentence as she finally looked up to see the group arrayed around the entrance hall, the teatray clattering to the floor, or at least it would have if not for Neo’s timely intervention, catching it as it fell although Ruby didn’t seem to notice.

“Weiss?” She whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I told you I’d come back to you, liebling.” They spent the briefest of moments, gazing into each other’s eyes before everything turned red and Weiss felt herself being scooped off her feet and pulled into the maelstrom of fluttering petals. There was a jolt of exhilaration as they soared around the room, Weiss pulling Ruby along as much she was pulled herself, petals trailing after her. Then all of a sudden it stopped and Weiss found herself lying back in Ruby’s embrace, her lips firmly pressed against Weiss’ own in a firm and insistent kiss that Weiss eagerly reciprocated. As her eyes slid shut, the last thing she saw was Ruby’s gorgeous face as red and white rose petals fluttered down around them.

After spending so long wandering across Remnant away from her love, Weiss was finally home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in posting, I do hope it was worth the wait. There's an awful lot to unpack in this chapter, with various revelations, Raven earning 'Mom of the Year' and the reunions. Sadly there's a bit too much to discuss here, but I would like to hear your thoughts on Raven now her motivations have been revealed.
> 
> Big thanks to machiavellianFictionist for proofreading and being so cute.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	41. Chapter 41

It felt like an age before Weiss was pulled upright again and she whined in disapproval as Ruby’s lips parted from hers. Ruby made up for it, however, by pulling Weiss into a tight hug and Weiss noticed a few things. Firstly that Ruby was somehow even taller than her than she had been since last they’d met, she had to be at least half a foot taller now. Both secondly and thirdly, she could feel two soft mounds pressing up against her that hadn’t been there last time Weiss had hugged Ruby. Clearly Ruby had been doing a lot of growing whilst they’d been apart.

“You came back.” Ruby murmured softly into Weiss’ ear. “You came back.”

“Of course I did. I promised, didn’t I?” There was a soft sniffle and Weiss felt Ruby nod against her.

“I love you, Princess.”

“Love you too, Liebling.”

Weiss wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that until there was an impressed whistle and Weiss was reminded that they had an audience. Pulling away from Ruby and flushing, Weiss looked to the rest of the room and was only a little surprised to see Jaune, Ren and Nora had joined them, along with a young boy who Weiss didn’t know. She did, however, quickly identify the source of the whistle as Neo who’d set the tea tray down on a table and was watching with a smirk playing across her face.

_ ‘Sorry.’ _Weiss signed as subtly as she could and Neo’s smirk just grew wider.

_ ‘Don’t be, that was really hot and cute. I can see why you were so eager to get back to her.’ _Weiss just rolled her eyes as Yang spoke up.

“That was sweet and all, but where’s my welcome back hug?”

“Yang! I’m so sorry!” There was a blur of rose petals and Yang was pulled into a tight hug. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Rubes.” Yang ruffled Ruby’s hair affectionately before pulling away and looking at the rest of the group and zeroing in on the young boy. “Who’s the kid?”

“We could ask the same about her.” Jaune jerked a thumb at Neo, who scowled and stuck out her tongue at him.

“That’s Weiss’ friend, don’t know how they ended up together though.” Everyone’s attention turned to Weiss, who shrank a little under their combined gaze. She was saved from answering, however, by the sharp whistling of a kettle from deeper in the house.

“We can all catch up over dinner, it’s just ready.” Ren intoned, though he shot Neo a strange look as he left, one that was mirrored by Nora as she and Jaune followed him. “It’s good to see you two again.”

“Well, you kids have fun with that, but Oscar and I have some things we need to discuss. We’ll catch up later.” Qrow drawled, stalking off into the house, the young boy Weiss now knew to be Oscar trotting after him.

“I guess we’ll go through to the dining room then!” Ruby zoomed back over to Weiss, latched onto her arm firmly and pulled her along after her, the others following in their wake. The dining table itself was one of the low ones Weiss had grown used to whilst on Menagerie, with cushions arrayed around it. Ruby sat down in the middle of one of the sides, setting Weiss down beside her and beckoning Yang to sit on her other side. Neo took up Weiss’ other side, just around the corner from her, looking a little put out she couldn’t cozy up to Weiss like Ruby was doing.

Not too long after they’d sat down, the others rejoined them carrying trays of dishes, and Jaune toting a giant pot which he set down with a thump on the table. A delicious aroma filled the room as everyone grabbed a bowl and started serving themselves, piling them high with food from the various dishes.

Weiss hadn’t realised just how hungry she was and spent a good deal of time picking out the nicest pieces of fish she could find from the large pot of ramen. Once everyone was served and started eating, Jaune asked the question again.

“So Weiss, who’s your friend?” Weiss shot Neo a questioning look and frowned when all she got was a shrug as she set down her chopsticks.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Liquorice, we’ve been travelling together for a few months now.” Weiss explained, and was surprised when everyone gave her strange looks. “What?”

“What are you doing with your hands, Weiss?” Yang’s head was cocked in confusion as she watched. “I saw you doing it back at the camp.”

“It’s ASL, Atlesian Sign Language.” Ren answered for her, his gaze now flicking between Weiss and Neo. “Is Liquorice deaf?”

“No, she’s mute.” It was easier to tell the truth than lie about something else and get caught out later. “This is just a habit from when I was learning.”

“I see… Well, it’s nice to meet you, Liquorice.” Ren smiled at Neo who returned it only a little warily as she pulled out her scroll.

‘It’s nice to meet you all too, Weiss has told me so much about you. 😁😁’

“Only good things I hope.” Jaune joked, though his grin dimmed a little as Neo’s grin morphed into an evil smirk.

“So how did you two meet? In fact, what have you been doing after you left Patch, Weiss?” Yang asked through a mouthful of noodles and soup.

Weiss hesitated before answering, giving Yang an appraising look. It may have been several months since Weiss had seen Yang, but she could still remember her tells. She’d already been slightly wary of telling Yang right away where she’d been and how she’d failed to convince Blake to return to Patch with her, but after the talk with Raven and seeing how Yang sat hunched over her bowl, eyes not quite meeting any of the others, she was sure she should not.

“I’ve been travelling around and across Sanus, looking into the White Fang.” Weiss could feel Ruby’s curious gaze on her and she prayed that her girlfriend wouldn’t call her out on her lies. “As for how we met, we ended up travelling on the same caravan across Sanus and hit it off. There’s no one I’d rather have my back in a fight.” Neo almost glowed at the praise as Ruby huffed in mild annoyance. “Except Ruby of course.” Weiss hastily appended, which seemed to mollify her partner, who pulled a little closer into Weiss’ side.

Weiss shot Neo a quick glance to see how she was taking her and Ruby’s abundance of affection and was surprised to see no hint of jealousy in Neo’s face. If anything, she looked positively giddy about the whole thing. Whilst the others were talking about Team RNJR and their saga, Weiss subtly signed to Neo.

_ ‘Are you okay with me and Ruby being this affectionate?’ _

_ ‘Of course I’m okay! You’re both so happy, how could I not be?’ _

“Seriously? The four of you walked pretty much all the way here?!” Yang exclaimed, pulling Weiss away from her conversation with Neo.

“We tried to get an airship, but they were all either out of commission or commandeered by the council.” Nora folded her arms with a huff, her pout softening when Ren patted her on the shoulder, however.

“And going by foot meant we could do stuff like help out some of the towns along the way!”

“Even so, you could have scrounged a vehicle or something. Weiss and Liquorice managed to do it.” Yang let out snort of laughter and fished out her scroll. “I took a picture, but you should have seen it in person!” Burying her face in her hands and groaning, Weiss heard the scroll being passed around and the laughter that followed in its wake.

“Is… Is that pink paint?”

“Yeah! It’s not even the proper paint for a vehicle. These two must’ve painted it with whatever they could find. Why did you do that, by the way?” Yang guffawed, retrieving her scroll as Weiss raised her head to look at the group.

“If you must know, we needed to disguise it, as we may have come by it in a less than legal manner.” She winced a little as five jaws around the table dropped.

“You _ stole _ it?!”

“We weren’t left with much of a choice. We had very important, time sensitive information we needed to get here as soon as possible.”

“What information?”

“I’ll tell you later. Let’s enjoy the meal now and we can talk about serious business with everyone present.” Neo nodded in agreement with Weiss, as did Nora, who was busy slurping up some more noodles.

“Mmph, good idea. Never knew you had it in you though, Weiss. And to think you were all prissy and kinda bitchy when we first met you.”

“I doubt the person I was back at the start of Beacon would even recognise me now.” Weiss shook out her wings for emphasis, letting one rest around Ruby. “Gods, I was terrible, wasn’t I?”

“Nah, you weren’t. You were just… a lot to handle, and you were dealing with some pretty heavy stuff.” Yang reassured Weiss, who smiled softly in thanks.

“You’ve changed and grown since then. We all have. And we all did and said foolish and embarrassing things.” There was a chorus of agreement with Ren’s statement around the table, and Weiss was surprised to see Neo nod along, though her expression was a lot more sober than the others.

“I may have been a little headstrong at times.”

“Not my proudest moment, trying to go one on one with a Nevermore on my second day.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Well, that’s embarrassment. The desire to go back and amend your past behaviour. It just proves you aren’t the same person you once were. You’re smarter, braver, kinder, truer to yourself. And you’re not even done growing yet, none of us are. And I personally look forward to seeing who we all become.” Weiss blinked as Ren finished talking and daintily picked out an egg from the large ramen pot to eat. That was possibly the most Weiss had ever heard Ren say. It was probably more than all the times she’d ever heard him speak at Beacon combined.

“Yeah, turns out when Ren wants to speak he gets all philosophical and stuff.”

“That’s my Ren!” Nora chirped, cozying into his side whilst Jaune rolled his eyes and Ruby laughed quietly.

“They’ve been like this ever since we got here.” She informed the rest of the table whilst Nora just stuck out her tongue and wriggled happily in place.

“I feel so sorry for you.” There was silent laughter from Neo as Ruby huffed at Weiss’ deadpan.

“Well, now that you’re back, we can make up for lost time.” The brunette leaned in to plant a soft kiss to Weiss’ cheek, eliciting a quiet squeak of embarrassment and a blush from the Faunus.

“Okay, can we maybe move on from the romance stuff please?” Jaune nodded vigorously in agreement with Yang’s request. “Liquorice! Why don’t you tell us about yourself? How come you decided to trail after Weiss?” Neo shot a panicked questioning look over at Weiss, looking very much like a deer caught in headlights.

_ ‘What do I tell them?’ _

_ ‘I don’t know, make something up and I’ll roll with it.’ _

_ ‘And how long will I have to keep this up for? We’ll have to tell them eventually.’ _

“Tell us what?” Weiss froze just as she was about to sign an answer and turned slowly to face Nora who had her head cocked curiously. “And keep what up?”

“Y-You understand ASL?” Weiss whimpered whilst silently cursing her awful awful luck. Every time she tried to have a secret conversation with Neo, there just happened to be someone who understood them.

“Yep! Ren does too, though he’s not quite as good at it as I am.” The others were staring at Weiss and Neo too, clearly with many burning questions. Even Ruby had pulled herself upright and away from Weiss to look at her, and Weiss’ heart twisted as she saw a flicker of hurt in her eyes.

“Weiss, are you and Liquorice hiding something from us?” She asked quietly and Weiss hung her head in shame.

“We were going to tell you all, I just thought it best if we waited for things to settle a little before we did.”

“Why though?”

“Liquorice?” Reluctantly, Neo got to her feet. She may have not liked hiding who she was, but evidently she liked being put on the spot even less. “Before we tell you, just… please keep an open mind.”

“Weiss, you aren’t exactly reassuring us when you say stuff like that.” Weiss ignored Yang’s drawl and turned to face the rest of the table properly, hands already forming the signs.

“I’d like to properly introduce you to my friend, Neopolitan.” The illusion shattered and fell away, leaving behind a very sheepish looking Neo who waved uncertainly at the group. There was a stunned silence and Weiss and Neo exchanged nervous glances.

“YOU!” Yang leaped to her feet and strode over to Neo, grabbing the diminutive girl by the lapels of her jacket so forcefully that her hat was dislodged and fell to the floor. “What the fuck are you doing here?!”

“Yang! Let her go!” Weiss shrieked, scrambling to her feet and trying to get the blonde girl to release her friend. To her credit, Neo looked unflinchingly back at Yang’s red gaze, though her fingers trembled a little as she typed out a message on her scroll.

‘I’m trying to make amends for what I did.’ She raised the scroll up so Yang could read it whilst Weiss tugged fruitlessly at Yang’s arm in a bid to free Neo.

“A likely story, more like you’re here to finish the job Torchwick started and tricked Weiss into believing your bullshit story about making amends.” Yang growled, not budging an inch despite Weiss all but dangling off her arm. The others were still seated, staring in shock at the display.

‘I swear I’m not. Please, let me go so I can explain.’

“Yang, who is this?” Jaune asked, finally shaking himself out of his stunned silence.

“This is the little bitch who nearly killed me on the train during the breach and tried her damnedest to throw Ruby off an airship. She was Roman Torchwick’s right hand criminal scum.”

‘I’m sorry for that, please.’ Neo all but begged, tears springing in her eyes. As Weiss contemplated grabbing Yang from behind to pull her off, a clear voice rang out in the room.

“Yang, let her go.” The three grappling girls looked down at Ruby, who had picked up the dropped bowler and was examining, paying particularly close attention to the feather Weiss had gifted to Neo.

“But-.”

“Now, Yang, please.” With a growl of frustration, Yang released her hold on Neo’s jacket and stalked back to her spot, still glaring at Neo as she dusted herself off and accepted Weiss’ fussing.

“Are you okay?”

_ ‘I’m fine, just a little shaken’ _She reassured Weiss, carefully reseating herself, with the Faunus taking a place beside her.

“You said you’d explain, so explain.” Ruby told Neo, still holding onto the hat. Weiss looked around at the rest of the group whilst Neo started typing out her answer. Yang’s eyes were no longer crimson, though she was still fuming. Jaune and Nora looked wary at the presence of the ex-criminal in their midst. Ren, however, contemplated Neo impassively, expression indecipherable. And Ruby… Weiss had no idea what her love was thinking, she had a strange look on her face as she watched Neo write her explanation.

‘Roman and I had no idea what Cinder was doing. We were just pawns for her, and by the time we found out, we were in too deep and stuck on an Atlesian airship. Believe it or not, but I cared about Roman. I want justice for his death, and that means hunting down Cinder and her allies.’

“I thought you said you wanted to make amends for what you did. That doesn’t sound like making amends, just vengeance.” Ren intoned calmly, still regarding Neo with a carefully blank look.

‘You’re right. And I realised it wasn’t enough. I helped cause The Fall, and that will always haunt me for the rest of my life, but if I can do something to make up for it just a little by helping Weiss and you all, then I will. I don’t expect you to trust me, I’ve done more than enough to warrant your mistrust. But please let me try.’

Neo withdrew her scroll and waited anxiously as the group mulled over her words, Weiss reaching out with a wing to comfort her. Finally, Ruby spoke up.

“I trust her, and we could always use more friends on our side.” And to Weiss’ surprise, she smiled encouragingly at Neo whilst her sister gaped at her.

“You what?! Were you not paying attention to the part where she tried to throw you off an airship?”

‘To be fair, she actually did throw _ me _off that airship.’ Neo interjected, a little more confident with Ruby apparently on her side.

“That’s not the point! Ruby, she was one of the bad guys! Don’t you remember what happened with Emerald and the others?”

“I do, Yang. I’m not some naive child blindly placing my trust in people!” Ruby’s voice raised in volume as she confronted her sister. “Neo and Weiss have clearly been working together for months now, and she clearly trusts that Neo wants to help and make things better. I trust Weiss, therefore, I trust Neo.” Weiss felt it was prudent to hold her tongue about just how much she trusted Neo and instead watched the two sisters stare each other down, unsure of whether she should intervene or not.

“I agree with Ruby.” Ren broke the tense silence around the table. “Weiss is vouching for Neo, and turning away a potential ally would be foolish.” Weiss did take note that Ren’s arguments were purely pragmatic, but she couldn’t fault him for it, especially when it seemed to convince both Nora and Jaune, who nodded slowly though they didn’t drop their suspicious looks.

This just left Yang as the sole hold-out at the table, and she shot the others a betrayed look. “Fine. I guess I’m outnumbered, then. But if she ends up stabbing us in the back, I reserve the right to say I told you so.”

“She won’t.” Weiss assured her firmly, shooting Ruby a smile of thanks that oddly wasn’t returned as Ruby handed Neo’s hat back to her, which she took gratefully and replaced upon her head.

“Jeez, how much noise can a bunch of teenagers make?” Qrow’s gravelly voice startled the group as he leaned up against a wall, eyes widening a little as they alighted on Neo. “You have got to be kidding me. Seriously, mini ice queen? I leave you alone for a couple of months and you’re adopting criminals. Oz is gonna love this.”

“If he has a problem with Neo, he has a problem with me.”

“Well you can ask him yourself. He wants to talk to you, fill you in on some of the details my dear sister may have left out. He’s waiting upstairs.” Qrow left the room after that and the seven teens started to get to their feet.

“We’ll handle clearing up.” Jaune indicated himself and his teammates. “We already got the speech, so we’ll catch up in a sec.” Yang, Neo, Ruby and Weiss all got up and left to follow Qrow, however, Ruby caught Weiss’ hand and pulled her aside and into a side room once they were out of earshot of any of the others.

“Weiss, once we’re done with Ozpin, we need to talk, alone.” Weiss blinked at the serious expression on her girlfriend’s face.

“About what?”

“About Neo. About you hiding things from us… from me. Everything, really.”

“O-Okay…” Weiss mumbled as she followed Ruby back out and upstairs to see Ozpin, now very concerned that she may have just broken things for good with Ruby, and a long absent sound started to hum lowly in her ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That reunion could have gone a little better, at least no one ran away like the last one. I do wonder what Ruby wants to talk to Weiss about later. 
> 
> As a side note, upon checking the dates of my publication, it's been a year since I first started writing this series and I just wanted to say thank you, whether you've been reading since the very beginning or picking it up with this chapter, thank you for reading my dumb fic about Weiss having wings.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and for being one of the best things to happen to me.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated and thank you all once again.


	42. Chapter 42

Weiss and Ruby found Qrow waiting with Yang and Neo in an upstairs lounge with the boy, Oscar, sitting in a chair and waiting for them. It took Weiss a couple of seconds to work out the situation.

“Professor? It’s good to see you again.” She addressed Oscar, who rubbed at the back of his head awkwardly.

“He’s not quite here right now, But he’s still knocking around up here.” Weiss cocked an eyebrow. Truth be told, when Raven had said Ozpin was reborn, she had for some bizarre reason expected a literal baby, not some young teenager who looked like he belonged on a farm more than as part of a Remnant-wide conspiracy. “We haven’t been properly introduced yet. I’m Oscar, and you must be Weiss Schnee.”

At least he was polite. Weiss approached and shook his outstretched hand “Guilty as charged, I’m afraid. Can the professor hear us?”

“He can. It’s taking a little getting used to, having someone else sharing my head and body.”

“I see… Are we waiting for the others, then?” Weiss took a seat on the couch and was immediately joined by Neo and a little slower by Ruby. Oscar tilted his head to the side then shook it.

“No, he says that shouldn’t be necessary, they’ve already been briefed. Hold on.” The young boy closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, nothing seemed to have changed, but Weiss noticed he held himself differently. There was more confidence in his posture and when he spoke, his voice had a familiar cadence to it

“Miss Schnee, Miss Xiao Long. It’s good to see you’re both in good health.”

“Yeah, well, aside from the missing arm, I’m thriving.” Yang snarked, settling herself in a chair and eyeing Ozpin warily.

“I’m sorry about your injury, Miss Xiao Long, I know it must have been hard.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Nodding, Ozpin turned his attention to Weiss, his gaze flicking to Neo a couple of times.

“I must say, Miss Schnee, you still surprise me. I find that quite refreshing after all this time.” He then turned his full attention to the nervous girl sitting beside Weiss. “And I certainly did not expect someone such as yourself to join our cause, Miss Neopolitan.”

_ ‘You know who I am?’ _

“I had contacts with various law enforcement agencies, not to mention as a member of the Vale council, I was privy to certain information regarding various wanted criminals.” He smiled enigmatically at the group. “It seemed prudent to know more about Roman Torchwick’s associates, given his involvement.”

_ ‘So what does this mean for me, then?’  _ Neo drew imperceptibly closer to Weiss and there was an apprehensive hesitance in her hands as she signed.

“For now? Nothing. Miss Schnee certainly appears to trust you a great deal, so I think it’s worth giving you the benefit of the doubt for now.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“I wouldn’t thank me just yet. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, we have serious business to discuss.” He steepled his fingers in a familiar gesture that looked almost comical when performed by a young boy wearing a large pair of orange gloves. “What’s your favourite fairy tale?”

“I don’t know any.” There was no time for such frivolity in the Schnee household. Yang remained silent, so Ozpin sighed and continued.

“There is one that is particularly relevant here: The Story of the Seasons. I won’t bore you with unnecessary details, but suffice to say, it concerns an old man and four sisters who were kind to him, leading him to grant them incredible power to share with the rest of Remnant. Each sister was named for one of the seasons and they all became known as the four Maidens.”

“And how is this relevant?”

“It is relevant, Miss Xiao Long, because it is true. The Maidens are real and have powers beyond whatever you could imagine, harnessed without Dust or Semblance but by-.”

“Magic.” Weiss breathed softly, everything felt off kilter, wrong. Magic wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Nobody could have power like that, only the gods. Yet she’d seen with her own eyes Raven transform.

“Yes, Miss Schnee. Magic.”

“So there are these Maidens and magic exists. You’re not getting any closer to the point, Professor.” Yang’s voice was sharp and her entire body looked tightly wound. Weiss wanted to go over, to calm her down, but she suspected she wasn’t Yang’s favourite person right now for bringing Neo into the fold.

“There was an incident. Almost two years ago, the Fall Maiden was attacked and a portion of her powers were stolen. We, that is myself and my trusted lieutenants, tried everything to reclaim the powers from the woman who stole them, even tried to transfer them to someone we could trust. But during the Fall of Beacon, the Fall Maiden was killed and the powers taken by our enemy, Cinder Fall.”

_ ‘Is that why Beacon was destroyed? Because Cinder wanted the Maiden powers?’  _ Neo looked mildly ill as she asked her question and Weiss placed a comforting hand on the pastel girl’s knee.

“Yes and no. Whilst the Maiden powers were the immediate goal, there is something else important about the academy, something important to Cinder’s master’s goals.”

“You mean Salem.”

“Yes, Salem.”

“So what does she want with the academies?” Ozpin paused, apparently mulling over his words.

“Long ago, there were two brothers, gods. The god of light and the god of darkness. For millennia they feuded, the god of light creating life whilst his brother only sought to tear it down.”

“Yes, I know this story.” Weiss interrupted impatiently, growing tired with Ozpin’s tangents and measured speech pattern. “The god of darkness created the Grimm as beings of pure destruction to oppose his brother’s creations. The god of light realised they couldn’t continue their feud and offered to create something with his brother, one that would share both their capacity for creation and destruction, as well as with the gift of knowledge to learn about the world, and the gift of choice to decide what to do with it. In short, they created Humanity” Weiss rattled off, remembering her lessons in the scripture. She looked at the assembled group, who were all looking at her in surprise. She hadn’t noticed Jaune and the rest of his team had also joined them and were also looking at her.

“What? It’s just scripture.” Weiss flushed at all the attention, she’d never really shared this part of her with her friends before and it made her more than a little uncomfortable.

“Miss Schnee is correct. However, the gifts the gods gave to us were more than just metaphorical. They exist as relics, which have been hidden in each of the academies, where they are protected. If Salem were to acquire the relics, it would be catastrophic.”

Silence fell over the room as Weiss, Yang and Neo all processed the information they’d been given. It was a lot to take in.

“So is that it? Is that everything?” Weiss cocked her head. There was an odd weight to Yang’s words, something challenging

“Aside from a few less important details Miss Rose and the others can fill you in on, yes, it is. Qrow mentioned you spoke to your mother, and I think this covers everything she told you.”

“Don’t call her that.” Yang snapped irritably, eyes now narrowed at Ozpin. “And actually, it didn’t cover everything. Much as I hate and distrust Raven, she did mention that you’d hide things from her and from the others. And I think she was right about that. When I asked if you’d told us everything, why didn’t you tell us that you have magic and that you used some of it on Raven and uncle Qrow?” All eyes turned to Ozpin, who regarded Yang impassively.

“I’m surprised she shared that with you, Raven was always rather secretive herself.” He sighed deeply, hands steepling again. “Aside from my curse of reincarnation, I have been blessed with some amount of magic. With it I gifted both Raven and Qrow with the ability to see more, to move freely and unburdened. In short, I gave them the ability to turn into birds. It was a gift they both accepted freely, although later on Raven did choose to part ways with us.”

“See, now this is what she was talking about. Don’t make it sound as though she chose to leave one day. She left over exactly this, you hiding things from us. When I just asked you whether there was anything else, why didn’t you tell us this?” Yang scowled at Ozpin as Weiss felt a stab of guilt mixed in with her own irritation at being kept in the dark. Wasn’t she doing exactly the same thing? First by hiding Neo, then by not telling the group where she’d really been.

Before she could further mull this over, Ozpin answered. “It was never my intention to lie to you, Miss Xiao Long, nor to any of you. But these are dark times and I can’t be quite sure who I can trust. There are some things I need to, how did you put it Qrow? ‘Play things close to my chest.’?”

“That’s about right.” Qrow drawled from his position slouched up against the wall, where he’d stood for the entire conversation.

“Good, so now that you’re aware of the nature of the world and our mission, you have a choice. If any of you wish to leave, now is the time. There is no shame in abstaining. Taiyang decided he would rather teach than fight and there is no shame in that.” He looked around the group, waiting for an answer. Weiss glanced at Ruby on her right and saw nothing but steely resolve.

“Very well then.” Ozpin made to stand up, but Yang suddenly held up a hand.

“Since Ruby’s sticking around, I will too. I’m not going to abandon my sister and I know she has a knack for knowing what the right thing to do is. But I have a condition, if we do this. If we’re going to be risking our lives for this, then no more lies, no more half-truths and no more ‘playing things close to the chest’. That goes for everybody.” Weiss squirmed uncomfortably as Yang’s gaze fell on her and Neo.

“Very well.” Ozpin answered eventually and Yang lowered her hand as Weiss’ raised. “Yes, Miss Schnee.”

“I did have something I needed to tell you all about. It’s about the White Fang.” The tension in the room that had just started to relax suddenly snapped back, and she glanced nervously first to Ruby, then to Neo for support. “About a month ago, there was a coup. Sienna Khan was deposed as High Leader and Adam Taurus has taken over.” Yang’s left hand clenched at the mention of the Faunus, though nobody other than Weiss seemed to notice.

“He plans to lead the White Fang to attack Haven academy, like he did with Beacon, on the last full moon before the new year starts.” Weiss had hated being the bearer of bad news after Beacon and she hated it now as the assembled group exchanged worried glances.

“I see. That complicates matters.” Mused Ozpin, thumb tapping at his chin. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Miss Schnee. It must have been difficult to acquire such information.”

“Not really.” Weiss felt another stab of guilt at not revealing her sources right after Yang had insisted none of them hide things, but she tried to reassure herself it was for the best. Out of all of them, Yang had had the most trying day, and it showed. Weiss did not want to add this on top and be the one to break Yang. Better to keep it secret for now and tell her later, when things were more stable.

She could, however, also feel the weight of Ruby’s gaze upon her, and it felt heavier than any personal guilt she could conjure up.

“So what do we do?” Jaune asked Ozpin, who dropped his hand from his chin.

“For now, we rest. It has been a long day and a long time since you have all been together, and you have a new ally to get acquainted with. I suggest you take the night to yourselves and we reconvene tomorrow.” Ozpin’s eyes flashed momentarily and his posture slumped back into that of Oscar’s.

“I will never get used to that.” He muttered, rubbing at his head. “I need a glass of milk.” The boy wandered out of the room, still looking a little dazed. Slowly, the others left, Yang leaving with Jaune and the others, but not before giving Ruby a quick hug goodbye. Qrow wandered off mumbling something about needing more whiskey, leaving Weiss alone with Ruby and Neo, neither of whom seemed eager to budge.

“Neo, would you mind leaving and spending some time with the others? Ruby and I need to talk.” Weiss finally broke the silence, addressing her partner, who pouted up at Weiss before acquiescing at the serious expression on her face.

_ ‘Will I see you later?’ _

“Sure.” Nodding, Neo left the room with a final sympathetic look back at Weiss before she vanished around the corner. The room fell silent once more as Weiss shuffled awkwardly on the couch, trying to maneuver herself to face Ruby better. Still the girl remained silent, and Weiss wondered if she was expecting her to break the silence. Before she could however, Ruby spoke quietly.

“How long?” Weiss’ stomach plummeted, Ruby knew, she had to know about her and Neo. Oh gods, she thought Weiss had been cheating on her and wanted to know for how long. The buzzing returned in full force, nearly drowning out Ruby’s next words. “How long were you going to keep Neo a secret from us?”

Oh.

“I-I don’t know, one day? Maybe a few, just until everything was settled.” Weiss stammered out, shrugging helplessly. She hadn’t actually discussed with Neo how long the Liquorice charade would go on for.

“A few days… Weiss, I could understand maybe a little while to smooth things over, especially with Yang, but a few days?”

“I-.”

“That’s not all. You lied about what you’ve been doing the last few months. Why didn’t you say you’ve been looking for Blake?” Weiss squirmed awkwardly on the spot.

“Yang’s had a tough day, I didn’t want to add on that I found her partner and they refused to come with me back to Patch and have been doing stuff that’s really important to them without her.”

“Wait, you found her?!” Ruby’s eyes grew wide. “How is she?”

“It’s ‘they’ now.” Blake had given Weiss permission to inform others of their new pronouns before Weiss left Menagerie. “And they’re doing well now, very well, actually.” A frown briefly crossed Ruby’s face before being replaced with a guilty grimace.

“Then why aren’t they with you if they’re doing so well?”

“Blake and Sun are still in Menagerie, trying to raise a militia to help stop the White Fang and reclaim it from Adam.”

“You could just tell Yang that, she’d understand how important it is.”

“Then how do I explain how they refused to return with me to Patch for the two months before we learned about the White Fang?” 

“O-oh…”

“Exactly. I just wanted to protect Yang, she’s already had so much piled on her.”

“I think she’s stronger than you’re giving her credit, Weiss.”

“Raven called her a mistake to her face. It really hurt her, she was in tears afterwards. Stack on top of that the fact that I brought along the girl who tried to kill her about a year ago and I wasn’t sure if she wouldn’t just snap like Blake almost did after we told them about what happened at the dance.” Ruby looked torn. Her hands kneaded at her skirt restlessly, which served to make Weiss feel even worse.

“But you’re still lying and hiding things. We just told Ozpin that it was unacceptable for him to lie to us, and we agreed to not lie to each other either. Even if you wanted to save Yang more pain by not telling her yet, she’ll probably be even more upset that you kept this from her.”

“What can I do about it though? I’ve already concealed it from her, there’s no taking that back.” The thrumming in Weiss’ ears was growing steadily louder. She’d been reunited with Ruby and Yang for only a few hours and she was already ruining things.

“Tell her as soon as possible, tonight if you can, definitely by tomorrow morning.” Ruby instructed firmly, reaching out to take one of Weiss’ hands. “And explain why you did it. Yang loves you, Weiss, she’ll understand. She won’t be happy about it at first, she’ll probably be kinda angry too, but we’re too strong to let something like this break us apart.”

“You’re right, the longer I delay, the worse the hurt from hiding it will be.” Ruby nodded an affirmative and opened up her arms, an invitation Weiss took without hesitation and allowed herself to be pulled into Ruby’s embrace.

“It’ll all be fine once you explain, Weiss.” The Faunus nodded against Ruby’s chest, enjoying the feel of her partner after so much time apart. “I did want to add one last thing to how you didn’t tell about Neo. Honestly, it hurt that you felt you needed to hide her from me. It felt like you didn’t trust me. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us, no lies, because we love and trust each other. Can you promise me that, Weiss?” 

“I promise.” Weiss reluctantly pulled out of Ruby’s grip so she could sit upright, she had to tell Ruby now, she had to. “And there’s something I need to tell you, something important.” Ruby’s face started to fall so Weiss hastily followed with. “And private, I was going to tell you the moment we had some time to ourselves, and now is that time.”

She took a deep breath, willing the buzzing to cease as she tried to formulate the words. “Ruby, do you know what polyamory is?”

There was a long agonising pause as Ruby’s eyes grew wider and wider and Weiss could almost see the cogs turning in her head. “You’re polyamorous?” Weiss nodded, unsure of what to make of Ruby’s reaction. “It’s Neo, isn’t it?” Another nod and the buzzing started to increase in volume as Ruby fell silent again, teeth gnawing at her bottom lip.

“Ruby? Liebling? Could you say something please?” Weiss asked nervously, unsure if she should speak or not.

“It’s… a lot to take in all at once. It’s not every day the girl you love turns up after a seven month absence and tells you she wants to date another girl as well as yourself.” She swallowed hard, as her eyes met Weiss’ worried gaze. “You didn’t… do anything did you?”

“We kissed, twice. That’s it. We established boundaries after a misunderstanding about what our relationship was. I would never cheat on you, Ruby.”

“What would happen if I said no, that you can’t date Neo and that I want us to stay exclusive?”

“Then I’d tell Neo that, and we’d carry on as friends.”

“You wouldn’t feel unsatisfied with just me? You wouldn’t resent me for denying you this?” Ruby’s voice quavered and Weiss leaned back in to hug her tightly.

“Never. You are my world, Ruby and I could never be dissatisfied with what we have. But I really do like Neo, and would love to explore a romantic relationship with her as well. But if you’re uncomfortable with it, then we leave it at that.” Weiss assured her partner, stroking a hand through Ruby’s hair, craving the feel of her coarse locks.

Ruby didn’t answer immediately, content to nuzzle deeper into Weiss’ embrace until she finally spoke. “Can I think about it? It’s still a lot to process. And I want to ease back into being  _ us  _ again, not thinking about starting new relationships or anything. Just us. We’ve been apart for so long and I missed you so much.”

“Take all the time you need, liebling. And I would like it to just be us for a while, we’ve both grown up and we should take time to get to know each other again.” Weiss fell silent again, pressing a soft kiss to Ruby’s temple and enjoying the pleased shudder that ran through the girl. “And thank you, I was so scared when I told you about this, you’d be disgusted or even break up with me. I just had so many thoughts about how badly this could go. It’s all so new and raw.”

“Then we’ll work it out together, like we always do.” Ruby raised her head slightly to plant a soft kiss on Weiss’ lips. “I love you, princess.”

“I love you too, liebling.” Weiss returned the kiss before the pair shifted around to get properly comfortable, lying together on the couch and listening to Nora’s shrieking accusations from downstairs that Neo was an ice cream thief, accusations that were more than likely true. Weiss should go and save Neo from Nora’s wrath, but that could wait. It was far too comfortable here with Ruby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, apologies for the lateness in posting. Quite a lot happened here, I'll be honest, there's gonna be a lot happening in the next chapter too. There's a lot to discuss and catch out heroine up on. And I'm sure whatever is going to go down with Yang will be fine.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being there for me when I'm down. Thanks too to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	43. Chapter 43

Weiss awoke unusually early the next morning, forcibly dragged into consciousness by a shaft of sunlight that slipped between the curtains of her and Ruby’s room. Stretching and shaking out her wings, Weiss looked fondly over at the tousle-haired form of Ruby, curled up in her bed on the other side of the room.

There had been a couple of upsets last night regarding rooming, what with the three new residents in the house. Firstly, not only was Neo not rooming with Weiss for the first time in months, a fact she was mildly displeased with, but she had to share her room with Yang, a fact Yang was _ very _displeased with. Then there were the sleeping arrangements in the room itself. Weiss had been initially disappointed by the fact that there were two singles and had lamented the fact that they wouldn’t have much room, only to be informed by her partner that she thought it best that they sleep apart at first, whilst they eased back into their relationship.

Weiss had accepted the suggestion with only a small amount of pouting, and received several goodnight kisses for her trouble. Still, she missed the feeling of curling herself around Ruby’s body, although she suspected that may be a little harder now, given how much Ruby had grown. She considered for a moment slipping out of bed and into Ruby’s, but decided against it for now. Ruby looked far too peaceful to disturb, snoring away gently, and it looked to be too good of a morning to spend it lazing around in bed.

Crawling out of her bed, Weiss flexed and felt her sleep-stiffened joints pop satisfyingly. Walking over to the window, she peeked out at the back patio of the house, which Ruby had told they used for training, and was surprised to see Yang sat cross-legged in the middle of the paved area. Curiosity sufficiently piqued, Weiss got dressed and made her way downstairs and outside.

Yang had her eyes closed and didn’t acknowledge Weiss’ presence as she sat down beside her, though Weiss could tell Yang knew it was her. They sat in silence, Weiss watching the clouds drift overhead and listening to Yang’s calm measured breathing. After a few minutes, Yang’s posture relaxed and she opened her eyes to look at Weiss.

“Hey, Weiss.”

“Hey yourself. You’re up early. The Yang I knew at Beacon had to be dragged out of bed if it was even a minute before half past seven.”

“Yeah well… I’m not the Yang you knew at Beacon anymore.” She flexed her prosthetic hand as she spoke and Weiss finally had a chance to look at it properly. It felt very… Yang, with the bright yellow paint job to match the remaining half of Ember Celica. “It’s not as good as the original, but it’s just as strong. Maybe even stronger, once I’ve worked out how much stress it can take, and I’m getting used to it.”

“It’s like Ren said, we’ve all changed since Beacon. I’d like to think for the better, overall.”

“Me too.” They fell silent again, watching the clouds and a small flock of birds that were now wheeling overhead. This time Weiss broke the silence.

“How was Neo last night?”

“Fine, I guess. Still don’t see why i couldn’t have bunked with Ruby and you and the gremlin couldn’t have shared, since you’re such good friends.”

“Ruby and I have seen each other in months, Yang, she wanted us to share the room.” Weiss sighed, stretching out in the sun. “I know it’s only been a day, but I’d like it if you at least made an effort with Neo. She means a lot to me. Even Nora’s giving her a chance, despite Neo stealing her ice cream.”

“Look, I just don’t trust her, okay? Setting aside the fact that she tried to kill me, There are still lots of reasons not to trust her.”

“And I have just as many as to why I do.” Weiss set her jaw stubbornly, at which Yang sighed deeply.

“I know, but people lie, Weiss. They lie and they trick you and they make you think that they care about you an-.” Yang caught herself mid-rant and took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did so. After a few uncomfortable moments, Weiss broke the silence.

“Neo’s not like that. She has been nothing but honest with me since we met.” Weiss felt another stab of guilt and almost laughed mirthlessly at the irony of an ex-criminal being more honest than she was.

“If you say so…” Yang trailed off and when Weiss looked at her she looked torn over something. “Was… Was she telling the truth about her parents yesterday?”

“I don’t know… Neo doesn’t like to talk about her past, but she’s not the sort of person who would lie about that. I don’t think anyone is, really.” Another silence fell between the two. Weiss fiddled with her sleeve awkwardly, unsure of quite how to ask, eventually deciding upon the direct approach. “How are you holding up after yesterday?” Yang didn’t answer immediately, instead heaving out a deep sigh.

“It’s a lot to take in, ya know? Finding out that magic’s real, about the Maidens, and Ozpin now being a fifteen year old boy.”

“I meant with Raven. You seemed… upset after she spoke to us.”

“You mean after she told me I was a mistake?” Weiss nodded silently. “I’m dealing. Like I said, I knew she never cared and I’m used to it now. People never want me and they always leave. Raven never wanted me in the first place and neither did Dad. Summer just wanted me because of Raven, and then she left too, leaving me to pick up the pieces of our family. And I haven’t even gotten to Blake yet.” Weiss blinked, this was actually the first time since they’d reunited that Yang had even mentioned Blake. Maybe this was Weiss’ opening to tell Yang about meeting up with Blake.

As she thought how to do this, she only half-paid attention to Yang’s next words. “I thought we had something, that we were in love. But she left me anyway.”

“They.” Weiss froze. She’d been so busy thinking of how she could segue into telling Yang about Menagerie, she’d automatically corrected Yang, who was now looking at her curiously.

“What did you say?”

“I-I-.”

“Did you just correct Blake’s pronouns?”

“Yang I-.” Weiss tried to get a word in edgeways, but Yang continued thinking out loud, cogs turning in her head.

“But Blake would have told me if sh-they were experimenting with different pronouns. So…” Yang’s expression darkened and her eye’s hardened as she turned her red-flecked gaze on Weiss. “You found Blake, didn’t you? That’s where you’ve been, and that’s how you found out the White Fang’s plans!”

“Y-Yes, I did.” Shrinking back, Weiss saw Yang’s nostrils flare as more red seeped into her lilac eyes, and she braced herself.

“And you fucking lied about it to us!?” Angry heat rolled off Yang in waves as her eyes became fully crimson and Weiss quailed beneath her fury. “After everything that happened yesterday, you still lied to me!”

“I was going to tell you, I really was!”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Because of this! You were in tears after you spoke to Raven yesterday, I thought you might explode or just break when I told you I found Blake and they refused to come back to Patch with me.”

“I don’t care about Blake anymore, I’m upset because one of my best friends thinks it’s okay to lie to me!” Weiss continued to cower as Yang loomed over her, her wings flapping free and wrapping themselves around her.

“I’m s-sorry.” She managed to sniffle, tears starting to prick at her eyes as she averted her gaze to the floor in shame. “I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Well, you did, by lying to me and-.” Yang paused in her rage, only just now noticing that Weiss had now all but curled up into a fetal position. “Shit.”

Yang dropped down and maneuvered around to Weiss’ other side so she could use her left arm to start rubbing Weiss’ back. “Weiss, can you hear me? Dammit, I’m such an idiot.” She muttered to herself as she moved her hand in firm circles on Weiss’ trembling back. “Weiss, it’s okay, I’m not mad, I’m not mad.”

“I’m so sorry for lying to you.” Weiss mumbled through her tears. “I thought I was helping. You were either really mad about Blake or really sad about them. You went through so much yesterday.” The trembling had stopped now, under Yang’s calming touch. Carefully, Yang reached out to pull Weiss into a gentle hug.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you, Weiss. I’m sick and tired of being lied to by everyone, but I should never have taken it out on you.” Yang murmured, now gently stroking Weiss’ hair. “I’ve been seeing my therapist back in Patch again for my anger issues, but I guess I haven’t made as much progress as I thought.”

Weiss didn’t answer, though she empathised with Yang’s sentiment about not making as much progress as she thought. It had been months since she’d had one of these attacks, she’d thought she’d gotten past them, but evidently she hadn’t. She had missed this though. Ruby’s hugs were great and frequently accompanied with kisses, but Yang gave the best hugs. Warm and comforting, even though a moment ago Weiss had been almost terrified of Yang. There was something about her hugs that calmed people.

Her frightened tears of remorse were starting to slow now and her tense wings started to loosen up and relax. Tentatively, Yang reached out with a hand and started to stroke Weiss’ feathers, smoothing them into place and drawing a soft trill of enjoyment from Weiss.

“Blake used to like it when I did this for he-them. They told me it was a family and partners things. I hope I’m not being presumptuous.” Weiss shook her head, raising a sleeve to dab at her eyes and wipe away the few remaining tears.

“I-I’m feeling a lot better now. Thank you, Yang.”

“Good. I’m sorry I shouted at you, I should have remembered.”

“You had every right to be upset. I hid things from you. I shouldn’t have done that, no matter what the intentions.”

“Having a right to be upset doesn’t mean I can take it out on people, especially not the ones I care about the most.” Now that things had calmed down, Yang released Weiss from her embrace, though she kept running her fingers over Weiss’ feathers. “Weiss, we made Ozpin promise not to lie to us anymore, and we promised not to too. Please, don’t lie to me ever again, even if you think you’re helping or protecting me.”

“I promise. I’m so so sorry, Yang.” Uncurling from her foetal position, Weiss stretched out her tense limbs as the pair fell silent.

“Where did you get these?” Yang tapped the metal cuffs on Weiss’ wings. “They’re beautiful.”

“I got them whilst I was on Menagerie... whilst I was staying with Blake. It’s a Faunus tradition. Whilst I was there I spent time learning about my heritage.” Yang didn’t bat an eye when Weiss mentioned Blake again, although her hand did still for a moment before continuing to preen Weiss’ feathers.

“I’m glad you were able to do that. They look good on you.”

“Thanks.” Weiss wasn’t sure if it was alright for her to broach the subject again, but eventually her curiosity won out. “Did you really mean it, when you said you don’t care about Blake anymore?” There was a deep sigh and Yang’s fingers retreated. Weiss looked over at Yang to see her wringing her hands in her lap.

“I-I… No, I still love them... I just wish I didn’t.” She chuckled sadly, head hung low as she focused on the flexing fingers of her prosthetic. “Those few months on Patch, after The Fall. That was the worst time of my life. I’d just lost my arm trying to keep Blake safe and they just left without a word.” Weiss shuffled uneasily. Would not telling Yang about Blake’s reason for leaving count as lying?

“I wanted to hate them for so long. I did hate them. But all I could come back to was how their eyes sparkled when they smiled, or how cute and expressive their ears were, or how they spent an entire afternoon researching breathing and meditation techniques to help me control my temper.”

Yang sniffed and made to wipe at her face with a hand before remembering and switching. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving Blake.”

“Yang… Blake’s coming here.”

“... What?”

“They decided to stay in Menagerie with Sun to rally support to take back the White Fang. Neo and I came here so we could warn the Mistral council about the attack.”

“T-They’re coming here?” There was a distinct nervous tremor in Yang’s voice and Weiss reached out a hand to rest on Yang’s knee.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. I am. I just... I never really thought I’d see Blake again. I guess that was kind of silly, knowing you’d found them. But whilst I was on Patch, I got it in my head that Blake was gone for good. Feel kinda guilty about that now.”

“I would’ve thought the same.” Weiss admitted, squeezing gently. “If Sun hadn’t been around, it might have been. There’s nothing for you to feel guilty about.”

“Doesn’t stop the feeling though.” Yang chuckled softly. “You know when they’re coming here?”

“Only that it’ll be before the White Fang attack…” An odd expression flickered across Yang’s face and Weiss remembered how Yang had said she was still in love with Blake not two minutes ago. “Yang, are you hoping you’ll be able to get back together with Blake?”

“No! No, I… I don’t know if that’s possible. I want them back in my life, and I still love them, but after everything that’s happened, I don’t know if we can work as a couple anymore.” Weiss frowned a little at the regret in Yang’s voice, but didn’t pursue the matter. The silence that fell between the two was suddenly interrupted by Weiss scroll buzzing.

Pulling out the device, Weiss flipped open to see a message from Neo. ‘The Bossman wants us to get together to discuss what we’re going to do next, see ya in a bit. 😁😁’

“Does she always text like that?” Yang asked from over Weiss’ shoulder, eyeing the little face with suspicion.

“I like it, it’s cute.” Weiss said calmly, snapping the scroll shut and tucking it away. “Will you be okay? Things got pretty heavy.”

“I’ll be fine,” Yang got to her feet, flexing her stiff legs. “What about you?”

“I’ll wash my face before we talk with Ozpin.” Weiss accepted a hand up from Yang and the pair started back towards the house. Hopefully this discussion would be a lot calmer than the one they’d just had.

* * *

“What do you mean we’re not telling the council!?” Weiss shouted at Ozpin, who sat impassively in his chair.

“Exactly that, Miss Schnee. We already have reason to believe Leonardo is compromised in some way, we cannot guarantee the council isn’t either, or that they won’t report it to Leo.”

“So you’re just going to let it happen? Students will be returning to the academy by then. You’ll be putting them all in danger if Blake and the others don’t arrive soon enough.” It wasn’t that Weiss didn’t have faith in Blake and the militia's ability to arrive in time, but being practical was important.

As Weiss seethed, trying to formulate a fresh argument, Yang stepped up for her. “So your promise yesterday meant nothing to you? Or is it because you only promised us you wouldn’t hide things?”

“Look, Firecracker, I’m not too happy about it either, but the situation ain’t as black and white as you’d like to think. Almost all of Mistral’s hunters are missing in action or dead, that doesn’t just happen by accident. Trust is a valuable commodity, and we can’t afford to give it too freely.” Weiss scowled a little as Qrow’s eyes flickered briefly to Neo, who was hanging back from the group.

“Lionheart is supposed to be one of your lieutenants. If you’re saying we can't trust him, then who can we trust?”

“We trust each other.” Ruby piped up, looking over at Weiss and Yang, who were still fuming. “Weiss, Yang, I know you don’t like this, but Professor Ozpin is right. We can’t trust Lionheart, what he’s been doing is in direct contradiction of the Professor’s orders. We’ve been burned before by trusting too freely, I’m not saying we should refuse to trust anyone.” Ruby too shot Neo a look, though Weiss was comforted by the fact that Ruby at least had a small smile on her face as she did so. “But to trust people without reason would be foolish.”

Weiss could definitely see the logic in what her girlfriend was saying, but she didn’t like it at all that innocent people’s lives would be put on the line because of it. “Fine. Because Ruby says so, we’ll do it your way.” Yang nodded silently, still glaring a little at Ozpin. “So what else do we do?”

“Well, with all the hunters in Mistral out of commission one way or another, the kingdom’s falling into chaos. Grimm attacks, bandits and all sorts of things are battering at the gates of civilisation.” Qrow gravelled out, taking a swig from his flask as Weiss wrinkled her nose. “So, I’m going to grease some wheels here and there, see if I can twist Leo’s arm a little, and get you all junior hunter licenses or something.”

The teens all exchanged looks of surprise, Ruby looking fit to burst with excitement at the news. “It’s not much, and it doesn’t mean you’re hunters yet. But if I can get this sorted, it means you lot can start taking some of the easier missions and ease the load on the kingdom.”

“And whilst Qrow is sorting that out, there is always training to be done. I’ve already spoken to your peers about areas of weakness in their technique, and I’m sure the three of you have particular weaknesses you need to work on.” Nothing immediately sprang to mind as a weakness of hers now that she had achieved summoning, but still she nodded along with Yang and Neo, who also looked a little sceptical of Ozpin’s claim.

“If we are all in agreement, I suggest we have breakfast.” Ozpin’s eyes flashed and his posture slumped back into Oscar’s.

“Is there any Pumpkin Pete’s left?” He asked hopefully, only for Ruby to shake her head and shoot a glare at Nora. “Never mind, I guess toast will do.” Slowly, the group filed out of the room and downstairs, Ruby hanging back a little to talk to Weiss.

“You weren’t in bed when I woke up, is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine. I woke up early and went to talk to Yang. I told her about Blake and where I’d been.”

“How did she take it?”

“Not well at first, as expected, but things mellowed out pretty quickly and we talked things through.” Weiss cast a glance at Yang, who was chatting animatedly with Nora. “She seems to be doing better, but this is Yang we’re talking about. She used to hide so much pain back when we were at Beacon so she could prop us up, so who knows how she’s really doing.”

“Well, she’s got us again now. If she needs us, we’ll be there to help.” Ruby smiled down at Weiss and pressed a quick kiss to her temple. “I’m proud of you for talking to Yang.”

“Thank you, Liebling.” Weiss nuzzled into Ruby’s side happily and basked in her presence. She’d missed this so much. It felt so good to be by Ruby’s side again, and no matter what the universe threw at them, they’d face it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back after my hiatus, sorry for the short notice, and I'm feeling refreshed and ready to write once again. Thank you all of you who commented and wished me well, it meant so much to me that y'all did that.
> 
> So Yang didn't take that all that well at first, but it's a good sign that she was able to calm down and have a calm conversation with Weiss afterwards. In this house we support character growth. That said, Yang is still hurting after everything that happened and it's not helped by Ozpin, he may have a point about not knowing who to trust but given his track record, maybe Weiss and co. should be concerned about this.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFicitionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being super supportive during this break, I love you. Thanks too to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and encouraging me to take this break.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	44. Chapter 44

“Ow.”

“Weiss?! Are you okay, I’m so so sorry!” Ruby’s slightly panicked cry sounded from somewhere above Weiss as she lay on her back trying to catch her breath and massaging her ribs. It had been a couple of days since Weiss had arrived in Mistral and she, Yang and Neo had been thrown straight into Ozpin’s training regime.

“I’m fine, Ruby.” She groaned, slowly pulling herself upright. As it turned out, Weiss did have an area of weakness Ozpin wanted her to improve on. Much like Ruby, her hand-to-hand skills were rather lacking, although Weiss had argued that with her Semblance she was never really disarmed. Nevertheless, here she was engaged in a sparring match with her girlfriend whilst some of the others watched from the sidelines. “Since when did you hit so hard?”

“Professor Ozpin’s had me on a pretty intense unarmed training program for the last month and Ren’s been teaching me some stuff about aura projection.” Ruby chirped, offering a hand up to Weiss which she accepted.

“Well, it certainly seems to be paying off.” Ruby smiled bashfully at Weiss’ compliment and started to lean in, only to be interrupted by an annoyed shout.

“Hey! Break it up, lovebirds! We’re making war, not love here!” Weiss scowled at Nora, who smirked unapologetically at the pair, ignoring the dirty look she was getting from Neo as well.

Weiss had asked the pastel girl why she was always so eager to see Weiss and Ruby being affectionate with each other, but she’d been unusually cagey, reiterating that she liked to see Weiss happy. Weiss got the impression Neo wasn’t telling her everything about that, but she let it slide. She certainly didn’t mind, and Ruby hadn’t expressed any discomfort with it when Weiss brought it up with her. 

“Well, I’m getting a little tired of getting intimately acquainted with the ground.” Weiss grumbled, tapping Ruby reassuringly on the arm with her wings to let her know there were no hard feelings.

“Very well, Miss Schnee. Miss Neopolitan, perhaps you could take to the arena? I’d like to get a firmer idea of your combat ability.” Neo shrugged at Ozpin’s request, shouldering Hush and strutting out to the centre of the cobbled backyard.

_ ‘Good luck.’  _ Weiss signed to her as they passed by and joined Yang on the sidelines. Weiss was thankful that, after the initial outrage at Neo’s presence, Yang had calmed down considerably. True, her and Neo couldn’t exactly be considered friends, but Yang was at least cordial towards the diminutive girl, at least with some prodding from Weiss and Ruby, the latter especially wanting to welcome the newcomer to their group.

“And your opponent… Mr Ren, if you would?” Nodding silently, The young man got up and approached Neo to loud whooping cheers from Nora.

“Go, Ren! Kick that ice cream thief’s ass!”

“I get the impression this’ll be a quiet fight.” Jaune mumbled to no one in particular as Weiss leaned in to whisper in Ruby’s ear.

“I feel sorry for Ren, he doesn’t know what he’s in for.” Ruby cocked an eyebrow and Yang’s mouth curled into a slight frown. Neo and Ren faced off each other, Ren inclining his head slightly whilst Neo performed an elaborate bow, sweeping her hat off her head as she did so before replacing it at a jaunty angle. Drawing his pistols, Ren glanced over to Ozpin, waiting for him to start the bout.

“3… 2… 1… Begin!” At Ozpin’s call, Ren started to pepper Neo with bullets, but the pastel girl was ready for him and popped open Hush to shield herself as she closed the distance between them. Realising his bullets were ineffectual against Neo’s parasol, Ren ceased firing and instead lashed out with one of StormFlower’s blades as Neo got within striking range. Neo, however, seemed to just lean to the side a little and the swipe missed by a wide margin. His next attack with the other blade was also brushed aside by the cockily grinning Neo, who proceeded to spend the next few attacks dodging, Hush held flush against her back as she did so.

“Come on, Ren! Just because she’s tiny doesn’t mean you shouldn’t beat the crap out of her!” Nora hollered at her boyfriend, who only grunted in response. Jaune also seemed incredibly invested in the fight, his eyes never leaving Ren as the young man tried fruitlessly to land a blow on Neo. Every so often she’d lash out with a quick jab, knocking ren back and aggravating him, whilst Weiss rolled her eyes.

“Neo, this is supposed to help Ozpin assess where best to focus your training. Please stop toying with him.”

“What?!” Nora shrieked, turning her attention to Weiss in shock. Pouting over at Weiss, Neo acquiesced. Ren’s next attack shattered Neo’s illusion and Weiss watched the shimmer move around Ren, revealing itself to be Neo as she smacked the handle of Hush in the back of Ren’s head, before tripping him up with its crook. This sent him sprawling to the floor and when he looked up, Neo’s blade hovered about an inch from his face.

“...And that’s the match.” Ozpin broke the silence, Neo withdrawing her blade and offering a hand to Ren. “You say you’re self-taught?”

_ ‘Not entirely, but for the most part I sort of worked it out myself.’  _ Weiss translated for Neo’s benefit whilst Nora and Jaune fussed over the lightly battered Ren despite his protests.

“Either way, you are very talented. But tell me, I get the impression you’re only used to fighting people, correct?” Neo nodded, having skipped over to the audience and started begging Weiss for attention and praise. “And I take it you haven’t much experience fighting creatures of Grimm then?” Another nod. “Yes, I think you’ll find that if you’re joining us, Miss Neopolitan, there will be a considerable amount of Grimm-fighting. We’ll see what we can do about getting you on some Grimm extermination missions and have you get more first hand experience.”

Neo nodded again, giving Ozpin a mock salute before pulling into Weiss’ side and continuing her quest for Weiss’ attention. Off to the side, Ren was still trying to fend off his teammates’ ministrations. “I’m fine, Jaune.” He insisted firmly, finally able to free himself from them and brushing himself off. “I won’t even bruise.”

“Well sorry for being worried about your well-being!” Nora groused, pulling Ren into a hug, which he reluctantly accepted whilst Jaune looked on with an odd expression. “We gonna keep going, or are we done now?”

“No, I think we’ve trained enough for now.” It was still strange to hear Ozpin from the young farmhand. It was still Oscar’s voice, but the cadence and vocabulary were all Ozpin. “I’ve got a good idea of where the three of you are with your abilities.”

“Great, I’m starved. What’s for lunch, Ren?” The young man shrugged awkwardly, Nora still clinging onto him.

“There’s some bao I can steam. I do need to go food shopping sometime soon.”

“Oh oh! Can we go today please?” Nora let go of Ren to give him her best puppy dog eyes. “I need to replace my ice cream since  _ someone _ ate it all.”

_ ‘If you didn’t want me to eat all of it, you should have shared.’  _ Neo snarked back, sticking out her tongue.  _ ‘But if we go today, we can get enough ice cream for the both of us!’  _ Nora’s eyes lit up at the prospect of even more ice cream and proceeded to continue to pester Ren whilst Neo detached herself from Weiss to help.

“Neo’s settling in pretty well isn’t she?” Ruby murmured softly to Weiss who nodded.

“I’m glad she is. I don’t think I’ve thanked you enough for giving her a chance.”

“More friends are always good, and she does grow on you.”

“I think more friends are exactly what she needs. It used to just be her and Roman, so when he… died, she had nobody else. We leaned on each other for months, but it’s not healthy for her to have just me as a support network. She needs to have someone there for her in case something were to happen to me.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you, Weiss.” Ruby insisted, pouting and latching onto Weiss’ arm as they followed the others into the house, Yang leading the way, followed by Ren, who was still being pestered by Nora and Neo whilst Jaune hung back a little. “I won’t let it.”

“I know, but she still needs other people she can go to and rely on.” Ruby nodded, playing with a strand of her hair as a frown curled across her face.

“Does… Does she talk about him a lot? Roman”

“She tries not to. It upsets her just to think about him.” Weiss watched Neo skip around Ren, still badgering him to buy her ice cream, the cheerful grin belying the deep sadness and regret Weiss knew lay beneath. “I don’t think it’ll ever go away either. He was her brother, she said she owed him her life. I wish I could help her, but I don’t think I can.”

“You’re helping by being there for her.”

“It’s not enough.”

“It’s plenty, Weiss. Some hurt never goes away, but having people who care about you eases it.” Ruby cast a glance at her sister’s back, regret etched on her face. “Yang was there for me when Mom didn’t come back. So trust me, being there for her helps more than you know.”

Weiss cocked her head at the frown on Ruby’s face. “Is everything okay, Liebling?”

“What? Oh yeah, everything’s fine. Just, ya know, thinking about Mom gets me kinda sad.”

“I’m sorry, Liebling.” Weiss pulled in tight to her girlfriend’s side, her cloak feeling oddly heavy around her shoulders.

“It’s okay, Princess. Like I said, having people who care for you eases the pain.”

* * *

After lunch, Weiss had decided to take a short nap, and it was mid-afternoon by the time she awoke. Yawning and stretching, she saw a note had been left for her on the bedside table.

‘Hey, Weiss! Ren, Nora and Neo decided to go out shopping, so I went with them to help him keep them in check. Yang’s out too and I don’t know where Qrow and Oscar are, but we’ll be back by 4. See you then! Love, Ruby.’

Weiss smiled fondly at the untidy scrawl before getting up properly and smoothing out her clothes. Now that they were in a proper city, Weiss should probably see about getting herself some better clothes, certainly ones that were of higher quality then the ones she’d been wearing the past several months. Come to think of it, Neo’s outfit could also use a spruce up. It was still rather littered with holes, despite Kali’s best efforts at repairing it.

Leaving her and Ruby’s room, Weiss wondered how she could occupy herself until the others got back. She had previously taken note of a well-stocked bookshelf in the living room, perhaps there was something on there that she could read.

Satisfied with her plan, Weiss started down the hallway towards the living room but was interrupted by a door suddenly slamming open.

“Weiss! I need your help!” Before she could protest, Weiss found herself being hauled into one of the unoccupied bedrooms, Jaune slamming the door behind them.

“What the hell, Jaune?!” She shrieked, brushing herself off and fluttering her wings irritably.

“Weiss, please I need your help with this.” Now that Weiss was properly looking at him, Weiss realised Jaune did look genuinely distressed about something.

“What do you need?”

“How did you know you were, y’know…” He tailed off awkwardly, making strange gestures with his hands.

“I’m afraid I won’t know unless you tell me.” Weiss snarked, still a little peeved at being dragged so forcefully into this.

There was a moment’s silence, then Jaune whispered. “Gay. How did you know you were gay?”

Weiss blinked in surprise, she hadn’t expected that. “It was at the dance, I saw Ruby in her dress and I realised I wanted to kiss her so badly…” As she recovered from the initial shock of the question, gears started turning in Weiss’ head, grinding to a realisation. “But why would you want to know that unless… Ohhhhh!” The realisation hit her and she gaped at Jaune who shuffled uncomfortably on the spot.

“Yeah…”

“Have you been having feelings for another guy?”

“I think so, I don’t know.” Jaune rubbed at the back of his head as Weiss went on.

“Who?” Weiss was already racking her brains to try and think who it could be. “Oh my gods, it’s not Qrow is it? He’s at least twenty years older than us, he’s old enough to be your father!”

“No! It’s not Qrow! It’s-.” Jaune protested but Weiss had already moved onto her next potential candidate, who was even more horrifying than the first.

“Surely not Oscar! Come on, Jaune! He’s only fifteen, not to mention he’s sharing his head with a centuries-old man!”

“It’s not Oscar! What the fuck, Weiss?!” Jaune now looked mildly disturbed by Weiss’ line of thinking.

“Well who else could it be then?”

“Ren! It’s obviously Ren!” He shouted, before clapping a hand over his mouth as Weiss’ thoughts ground to a halt.

“Oh. Right. I can’t believe I forgot about him.” Weiss cast her gaze around the room to avoid looking at Jaune, sheepish expression firmly in place. “That makes far more sense.”

“Glad you think so.” Jaune said sarcastically, removing his hand from his mouth, now assured no-one had overheard.

“Wait, isn’t he together-together with Nora?”

“I knooooow…” The blonde boy groaned loudly, walking over to the nearest bed and dropping onto it, burying his head in his hands. “I thought he was a brother to me, I’ve never had a brother before. But since Beacon and… Pyrrha, he’s been mine and Nora’s rock, y’know, and I’ve been having some very… unbrotherly feelings towards him.”

“Such as…?”

“Like I want to spend all my time with him and hug him and… kiss him…” Jaune trailed off, his face turning crimson and his last words were barely inaudible. “I’ve even had a couple of… dreams about him.”

It took Weiss a couple of seconds to process what Jaune meant by ‘dreams’ and was horrified when she did. “Ew! Jaune, I did not need to know about that!” She shrieked.

“Sorry, sorry. I thought it was pretty relevant to the whole, ‘am I gay?’ thing.” He did have a point there, and Weiss fidgeted a little uncomfortably.

“I mean from what you’ve told me about what you’ve been feeling about Ren, it does sound like you’re attracted to him.”

“Oh God.” Jaune buried his face in his hands again and Weiss hurriedly sat down beside him, awkwardly reaching out to pat him on the shoulder.

“Hey, It’ll be alright. Are you upset because he and Nora are together? Because I know that’s an issue but that’s how things are sometimes.” She tried to comfort the young man, but it didn’t seem to work, as he raised his head, tears sparkling in his eyes.

“It’s not that. Not just that I mean.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s… It’s Pyrrha.”

Oh.

Weiss felt as though a lead weight had been dropped into her stomach as Jaune continued. “I loved her, I can’t just start having feelings for someone else. Especially not so soon after she was taken from us. It’s disrespecting her memory.”

“Jaune, you know that’s not true.” Weiss tried, but Jaune continued, his words halting and shaky through the tears.

“Nora told me how long Pyrrha was in love with me for. Having feelings for someone else like this, it’s betraying her feelings.”

“Jaune, you know Pyrrha wouldn’t want you to never love anyone again because of what happened. She would have wanted you to be happy.”

“Well, now we’ll never know what she really wanted.” Jaune wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie as Weiss wrapped one of her wings around him. “Thanks for the advice, Weiss, but I think I’d like to be alone now.”

“Of course. If you need me, I’ll always be ready to help or listen, or whatever you need.” Standing up, Weiss gave the distraught young man one last look before she left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor poor Jaune, I really can't let any of these kids have a break can I? I don't really have a great deal else to say about the chapter here, but! I just started a [discord](https://discord.gg/2bQqeqm) so you can direct yourself over there if youv'e got stuff ya wanna say.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so cute and loveable. Thanks also to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	45. Chapter 45

Over the next few days, Weiss spent the time between training keeping a fairly close eye on Jaune. He hadn’t brought up their conversation since and gave no outward indication of his turmoil, instead throwing himself wholly into their training. But after a few days, Weiss did start to notice a few things, like how Jaune would frequently stare longingly after Ren whenever he left a room, or how there was a brief flicker of sadness in his eyes whenever Nora got extra clingy with Ren.

Several times, Weiss considered confronting Jaune on the issue and getting him to just tell Ren and Nora about it, because it was clearly eating him up inside. But Weiss had no idea about the etiquette of intervening in other people’s love lives and it wasn’t her place to share it with the others to ask for their own advice. Not to mention Weiss had her own romantic endeavours to navigate.

Despite their several month separation, Weiss and Ruby had slotted back into their relationship as though no time had passed since they’d last seen each other. Not to say there weren’t one or two bumps along the way, the most memorable being a somewhat awkward encounter in their shared room just after Ruby had taken a shower. On the whole though, things between them were good, just leaving the issue of Neo.

Weiss was very pleased that since her arrival, Neo had been integrating well into the group, getting along best with Nora. The two having struck up some kind of friendly rivalry that Weiss was sure would end in some absolutely ridiculous competition if she didn’t keep an eye on it. Surprisingly, the only holdout had been Qrow, but Weiss chalked that up to the man’s generally stand-offish nature. However, with her growing comfort amongst the group, Neo’s confidence in showing physical affection towards Weiss increased accordingly.

Although Weiss welcomed the frequent hugs, she was also painfully aware it wasn’t just her who needed to be alright with Neo’s clinginess. After the third time Weiss got knocked down by a flying hug from Neo, she’d asked Ruby if she was comfortable with how the pastel girl showed her affections towards Weiss.

“I guess I’m okay with it.” Ruby fidgeted beside Weiss as they sat alone in their room.

“Ruby, if you’re not completely sure, then I’ll tell Neo to stop. She’ll understand.” Reaching out, Weiss took Ruby’s and stroked it gently with her thumb. “You come first, always.”

“What you want matters too.” Ruby mumbled, turning her hand over to intertwine her fingers with Weiss’. “Relationships are about cooperation.”

“Then let’s cooperate and communicate. Please tell me what’s bothering you about Neo?” Weiss didn’t want to push Ruby into making a hasty decision she’d regret, but the continued ambiguity frayed at Weiss’ nerves.

Ruby continued her fidgeting for a little while longer until she finally answered. “I guess… I’m kind of jealous of Neo. Both of you went on this life-changing journey to Menagerie, you’ve changed so much from that, and I wasn’t there to see it and be there for you.” Weiss whined softly, wrapping a wing around Ruby and pulling her closer as she continued. “I’m scared if you start dating Neo, you’ll both have this connection that you and I don’t have, and eventually I’ll get left behind.”

“Ruby…” Weiss nuzzled comfortingly into her girlfriend’s neck. “I’d never leave you behind.”

“I know you wouldn’t, not on purpose, at least…”

“Not ever, Ruby.” Weiss insisted, pulling away to look Ruby in the eyes and getting momentarily distracted by their shining silver before she got her train of thought back on track. “Just because Neo and I went to Menagerie for a while doesn’t mean we didn’t have our own moments.” Ruby made a noise of doubt so Weiss continued.

“There was that night on the roof when we talked about why I wanted to be a Huntress, Mountain Glenn, that time I jumped off Beacon tower, our trip to Patch to meet your mom... I know they’re not as grand as a journey across Remnant to the Faunus homeland, but they were all important. Every single moment I spend with you is life-changing because you’re there.”

Tears started to well up in both girls’ eyes and Weiss tried to blink them away so she could finish. “You have changed my life so much and in so many ways, and it has all been for the better. Ruby Rose, I love you so, so much, and I always will, until the end of all things.” Weiss squeezed Ruby’s hand tightly, admiring how their paired rings gleamed next to each other.

“Weiss…” Leaning forward, Ruby’s eyes flickered shut, as did Weiss’, and their lips met in a gentle kiss. Weiss would always marvel at how soft Ruby’s lips were, despite how chapped they were, as they worked against each other. The kiss increased in passion as Ruby’s mouth opened and her tongue slipped out, demanding entrance to Weiss’ mouth, which she granted immediately.

Weiss would never get tired of kissing Ruby, their tongues dancing together with Ruby’s taking the lead and Weiss happily following. She let out a soft moan of disappointment when Ruby drew back, but it quickly morphed into one of pleasure as Ruby nipped at her bottom lip, tugging at it gently, and when Weiss opened her eyes, it was to a pair of mischievously glinting eyes that burned molten silver.

Sadly, as all things must, the kiss ended, leaving both girls panting for breath and grinning maniacally at one another. Ruby then leaned in, not for another kiss, but to rest her forehead against Weiss’. “I love you too, Princess. I can’t imagine ever not loving you.”

“Feeling better, Liebling?”

“A lot better…” A frown creased her face briefly. “But I still can’t shake the feeling.” Weiss thought quickly for how else she could reassure Ruby.

“Why don’t I tell you about Menagerie over dinner? It’s not the same as being there, but maybe it’ll make you feel better if you’re sharing it.”

“I… I think I’d like that.” Ruby smiled softly, then her eyes widened and she squeaked. “Did you just ask me out on a date?!” Weiss blinked a couple of times as Ruby’s face flushed before breaking out into quiet giggles.

“We’re girlfriends! What’s so embarrassing about me asking you out on a date?”

“I dunno, I’m normally the one who takes the lead on these things.” Ruby mumbled, still very red as she pulled her cloak’s hood up to shield her face.

“You know, you’re absolutely adorable when you blush.” Weiss cooed, ducking down a little so she could sneak a quick kiss. “And if it makes you feel better, I don’t know Mistral all that well, so I’ll be depending on you to choose a good restaurant.”

Ruby’s face screwed up in concentration for a moment then it lit up with excitement. “I know just the place! You’ll love it!”

“I’ll pick you up at six, then?” Ruby nodded enthusiastically before a look of horror crossed her face.

“I’ve got nothing to wear! I need to find Yang!” And with that she vanished in a flurry of rose petals after planting a quick kiss on Weiss’ cheek, calling out behind her. “I’ll see you then!”

As soon as Weiss was sure Ruby was gone, she dove for her scroll and pulled up one of her contacts. “Neo, I need your help! I’ve got a date with Ruby tonight and I need something to wear!”

* * *

“This is okay, right? I thought it would be nice to come to the same sort of place where we had our first date.” Ruby stammered out as both she and Weiss stood in front of an unassuming building that nonetheless held what was apparently the best sushi in Mistral. “We can always go somewhere else if you-.” Ruby’s nervous babbling was cut off by Weiss’ lips pressing firmly to hers.

“It’s wonderful and sweet that you thought of that.” Weiss told her goofily grinning partner. “It’s perfect.”

Still grinning from ear to ear, Ruby led the way up the steps into the restaurant, though Weiss hesitated at the doorway when she didn’t see the little card various businesses would prop up in their window declaring them as Faunus-friendly. “Don’t worry, I checked ahead and they’re cool with Faunus.” Ruby reassured her partner, noticing where Weiss’ eyes were focused, and led her still slightly nervous girlfriend inside.

Any lingering worries Weiss had were quickly laid to rest when she noticed the hostess’ swishing tail. “Welcome! Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, two under Rose.”

The hostess flipped through her book and nodded once she found the right page. “Right this way ladies. Oh, and I love your wing clasps, by the way. Very stylish.”

“Thank you…” Weiss blushed lightly as the hostess led them to a low table on a raised platform with a cushion on either side of it.

“Here are some menus for you and someone will be over in a bit to take your orders. I hope you both enjoy your meal.” With a swish of her tail, the hostess returned to her station, leaving Weiss and Ruby to their own devices. Weiss was particularly appreciative of the seating arrangement, enjoying the freedom to let her wings stretch out rather than be crushed up against the back of a chair.

“I like this restaurant already.” She commented, admiring the tastefully understated decorations and some of the traditional Mistralian style paintings that hung from the walls. “Though perhaps it’s the company.” She grinned slyly as Ruby squeaked and buried her face in the menu.

“I-I’m enjoying the company too. You look great.” Weiss grin widened as she preened and straightened out her shirt. Neo had definitely pulled through, procuring a neatly tailored pristine white shirt and navy waistcoat, both of which she had promptly ruined by slicing two large holes in the back for Weiss’ wings, and paired with a tapered pair of trousers to match the waistcoat. The whole ensemble was finished off with a tie, which Neo had insisted must remain loose, and Weiss’ top two buttons remained undone under threat of repeated poking.

“Why, thank you. You’re not looking too bad yourself, very fetching.” Ruby’s face turned the colour of her low cut dress, which took great advantage of her recently acquired cleavage. Cinched at the waist with a wide black belt and flaring out into an A-line skirt that ended just above her knees, the dress was possibly the most daring thing Weiss had seen Ruby wear since the dance at Beacon, not least of which because she’d foregone her now rather ragged cloak.

Weiss too had elected not to wear her cloak. In fact, she’d tried to give it back to Ruby the day after they’d reunited, now that she knew who it had previously belonged to. Of course Ruby had refused, despite Weiss’ many insistences, and so Weiss had eventually capitulated and agreed to keep using it, though she did store it with more reverence now than she previously had.

“Yang really pulled out all the stops.” Ruby agreed, the heat from her cheeks starting to die down as she examined her menu. “This place is not cheap, is it?”

“Relax, I’m paying. I invited you out, after all.” Weiss said smoothly, holding up a hand when Ruby moved to protest. “Please let me do this for you, Ruby.” a conflicted look twisted across Ruby’s face before she nodded reluctantly and returned her attention to the menu.

“Hi! I’m Pepper! I’ll be your server for the evening!” An incredibly perky waitress with a twitching pair of heavily pierced bright orange fox ears interrupted the two girls. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Oh, um, can I get a soy milk please?”

“I’ll have a green tea, please. Iced if that’s possible.”

“Yeah, we can do that for you. One soy milk and one iced green tea. I’ll get those right out to you.” Pepper chirped, trotting away and leaving the two girls to continue perusing the menus.

“See anything you like?” Ruby asked, setting down her menu, mind clearly already made up.

“There’s a lot of choice here…” Weiss mused quietly, eyes running down the list. “And I don’t recognise a lot of it.”

“Oh! Ren said that’s because instead of using the usual fish, which are all from the ocean, this place uses freshwater fish from the lake not too far from the city, so there’s less sashimi on the menu. He did say that the grilled eel was very good.”

“Then I shall have that.” Weiss closed up her own menu so she could look properly at Ruby. “Did Ren recommend this place?”

“Yep! When we first got here, Nora insisted that they go on a culinary tour of the city, and you know how much Ren likes cooking, so I’m sure it was pretty fun for him too.” Weiss hummed in thought as the waitress returned with their drinks and took their order.

“Maybe I could ask Ren if he’d be willing to teach me a few things.” She wondered once Pepper had left. “I’d like to continue learning how to cook whilst I’m here.”

“Continue?”

“Well, your father started teaching me back when I was staying on Patch, but Blake’s mother taught me quite a lot whilst I was staying with them. I liked being able to help around the house as some small payment for them letting us stay there.” Weiss smiled into her drink as she remembered the time she’d spent with Kali in the mansion’s kitchen. “And I enjoyed spending time with her. Kali helped me a lot whilst I was in Menagerie.”

“It sounds like going to Menagerie was good for you.” Ruby’s voice had taken on a slightly morose tone, and Weiss immediately reached out over the table to take her hand.

“Hey, I promised I’d tell you all about it, didn’t I?” Ruby nodded. “I want to share it with you, because it was good for me. I felt isolated from my heritage as a Faunus. Having been raised by Humans like Jacques Schnee, I doubted whether I could even call myself a Faunus, I was so divorced from it.” A small frown crossed her face and Ruby deftly switched their hands so she was the one holding Weiss’ hand in comfort.

“Blake helped me move past that. They taught me some of the things I missed out on not being raised by my father or living amongst other Faunus. They taught me traditions, history of the Faunus, so many things. And I finally feel comfortable with who I am now. I’m Weiss Schnee, daughter of Willow and Kassiel, and a proud Faunus.”

“Weiss, you have no idea how happy I am for you.”

“I have so much to tell you about, I’m not sure where to start.”

“Maybe start at the beginning. What happened when you first got to Menagerie, what’s it like there?”

“Crowded.” Weiss snorted as Pepper returned with their food and set it down on the table. “There were so many people in Kuo Kuana, and all of them Faunus. I’ve never seen so many all in one place before. I’m pretty certain Neo was the only Human on the entire island.”

“Was it hard to find Blake?”

“Not at all, in fact. You know how their father’s the chief of Menagerie.” Ruby nodded, looking a little unsure.

“I think so, your sister mentioned it once.”

“Yes, well, Blake was staying with their parents in their mansion.” Ruby’s jaw dropped.

“No way! Blake’s family has a mansion?!”

“It’s the chief’s house, technically, not theirs.”

“Oh, oh, was Blake happy to see you when you showed up?” Laughing nervously, Weiss suddenly found her grilled eel very interesting as heat filled her cheeks.

“Not exactly… They tried to run away and I, um, ended up freezing their feet to the floor.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Look I had my reasons and it’s a long story.”

“Well it’s a good thing you’ve got all meal long to tell me about it, princess.”

“I suppose I do, Liebling. I suppose I do.”

* * *

“Weiss, you really didn’t have to pay.” Ruby whined as they stepped out of the restaurant and into the cold night air.

“I know, but I wanted to.” Weiss replied smoothly, extending a wing to wrap around Ruby to keep her warm. “Thank you for choosing the restaurant, the food was delicious.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” Ruby chirped, good mood restored a little as they walked down the street. “I still can’t believe you summoned a giant flaming knight to kill a giant Deathstalker.”

“Well, Neo was there, so she’s my witness.” Weiss, hesitated for a moment. She knew it was bad etiquette to talk about another woman whilst you were on a date, but it was related to why they’d come out in the first place. “Are you feeling better now that you know what happened with Neo and I on Menagerie?”

“I am. I’m still a little sad I wasn’t able to be with you when you were actually there, but we can’t change that now.”

“We’ll go to Menagerie together sometime, once all of this is over. I can show you the markets and the Shallow Sea… There’s not much to Kuo Kuana, but it did feel like a home away from home.”

“And where is home, then?”

“With you of course.” Ruby let out a little chirp of happiness, linked her arm with Weiss’ and slipped her hand down to hold her girlfriend’s hand.

“You say the sweetest things, Princess.” The pair fell silent as they continued to walk back to the house. Weiss couldn’t help but feel a little nervous, remembering how their last date had ended, but so far there’d been no racist remarks thrown their way.

After a few minutes, Weiss could sense Ruby wanted to ask her something but was wrestling with herself whether she should or not. “Weiss?”

“Yes, Liebling?”

“What is it you like about Neo?”

“I’m not sure that’s something we should talk about whilst we’re out on a date together.” Weiss deflected, unsure of how to answer properly.

“But I want to know what it is about her that made you want to start dating her as well.” Sighing, Weiss realised she wasn’t going to get out of this one, and she tried to marshall her feelings for Neo into something that made sense.

“It’s… not easy to explain. When I look at Neo, I see a girl who’s made several bad choices and paid dearly for them, but she still keeps going and trying to be better. She’s earnest and kind, and even though she doesn’t believe she deserves forgiveness for what she’s done, I know she does, and I’ll keep telling her that.” Weiss shrugged helplessly, she normally prided herself on being reasonably articulate, but she always fell down when it came to describing her feelings.

“I see…” Ruby mused quietly and Weiss wasn’t sure what to make of her response. “Actually, I can kind of see what you mean.” The Faunus sighed quietly in relief as Ruby continued. “I need to think about it a little more, but I think I’d be okay with you and Neo dating.”

Weiss’ heart felt as though it had skipped a beat. “You’re sure? You’re absolutely sure?”

“I think so. I’ll sleep on it tonight. But you two really like each other and I don’t want to get in the way of that. Just… Promise you won’t leave me behind.”

“Ruby, I will never do that to you.” A quiet joy suffused Weiss as she pulled Ruby into a hug. “You sleep on it and we can talk about it in more detail tomorrow morning with Neo.”

“Alright. I love you, Weiss.”

“And I love you too, Ruby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally happening people, this is not a drill! Ruby's been a little anxious about this so it's perfect of Weiss to comfort her and alleviate her fears with a date. Feels good to get back into writing whiterose stuff.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and eminently kissable. Thanks too to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being so so supportive.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	46. Chapter 46

Weiss awoke next morning with her face buried in Ruby’s coarse strawberry-scented hair. It had been a bit of a squeeze to fit the pair of them in one of the single beds. They just about managed it by curling up as close to each other as they could manage, though Weiss’ wings still ended up hanging over the edge.

Ruby let out a small snuffling snort in her sleep and Weiss’ heart melted even more. How could this girl be so adorable without even trying? There was a buzzing from the bedside table and, with an amazing display of acrobatics and dexterity that went unseen, Weiss grabbed her buzzing scroll without disturbing Ruby.

‘Hey Weiss, 😁😁 How was your date last night? 😊 Ren’s making breakfast and it’ll be ready in about ten minutes.’ Weiss hummed in thought, still slightly groggy with sleep, as she started to compose a reply, but was distracted by a sleepy groan.

“Weiiiiss, it’s too earlyyyyyy.” Ruby moaned, reaching blindly for her girlfriend to pull her back into position spooning her.

“Apparently not, Ren’s already started breakfast.” Shifting away from Ruby’s grabby hand, Weiss sat up properly so she could type better, and Ruby reluctantly did the same, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she did so.

“How d’you know?”

“Neo texted, she wanted to know how our date went.” Blinking owlishly, Ruby crawled up to sit behind Weiss, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl and resting a chin on her shoulder.

“You gonna tell her, then?”

“Just the broad strokes, how the restaurant was, etcetera.”

“Oh, no, I meant about us talking this morning, about you and her… dating.” Weiss froze halfway through typing her response, turning her head to look at Ruby’s slightly flushed profile.

“You’re sure about this? Really?”

“I am, but with the number of questions you’re asking me about how sure I am, I’m starting to wonder how sure you are.” Ruby teased lightly and earned a soft huff of annoyance from Weiss.

“I am sure, I just want to be certain that  _ you  _ are and that I’m not forcing you into anything.”

“You’re not forcing me into anything, Weiss. I want you to be happy, Neo makes you happy, and that makes me happy.” Weiss felt Ruby shrug against her back and she pressed a soft kiss to Ruby’s cheek.

“She does make me happy, as do you. Thank you for this.” Weiss continued typing, only to pause again to ask Ruby a question.

“Do you want us to talk before or after breakfast?”

“How about during? We take our food to the living room and talk there. Then we won’t have to delay either talking or eating.”

“Alright.” Weiss finished her message to Neo and sent it, snapping her scroll shut and dropping it back onto the table. “So… Are you going to let me get up?”

“Hmmm, I dunno. I haven’t gotten a proper kiss good morning yet.”

“Well, if you let me go, I can rectify that problem.” Weiss could feel Ruby’s pleased grin as she released her grip on her girlfriend, allowing her to turn around to plant a soft kiss on Ruby’s lips. With a quiet moan, Ruby returned the kiss hungrily, forcing Weiss to break away before things got too heated.

“R-Ruby, we need to get dressed.” Panting, Weiss found it difficult to tear her eyes away from Ruby’s lips as the burning desire to kiss the girl silly whilst being pinned to the bed flared in her chest.

“We’ve got time.” Ruby protested, trying to move in, but was stopped by a gentle hand.

“We’ve got things to do, Liebling. We can kiss later.” Weiss put down firmly, Ruby acquiescing with a small amount of grumbling as she got up to collect her clothes and started to get changed as Weiss politely averted her eyes. Much as Weiss loved Neo, she was a very bad influence, as Weiss was incredibly tempted to peek at Ruby as she changed. She hadn’t been like this before she met Neo, so obviously it was her influence that was giving Weiss all these inappropriate ideas.

“Weiss, I’m done.” Looking back at Ruby as she affixed her cloak Weiss felt another swell of affection that was drowned out by embarrassment at Ruby’s next words. “You know you could have looked, I don’t mind.”

“I-I didn’t think you liked people looking at your body.” Weiss admitted, face turning crimson as she retrieved her clothes to get changed herself, gesturing for Ruby to turn around herself. Shrugging, Ruby did so, allowing Weiss some privacy as she shucked her nightdress.

“I used to, but it’s just you, and I feel a lot more confident in me now, thanks to Nora and the hormones she got for me.”

“You never told me how she got those.” Weiss mused as she pulled on her shirt, sliding her wings through the slits in the back.

“She won’t tell me either, just says she’s been getting hers from the same source for ages and that she has a ton stashed away. No idea where though, or how she carries so many without people noticing.”

“A mystery for the ages.” Weiss agreed, finishing buttoning up her shirt and tucking it into her trousers. “Could you pass me my cloak?” Picking up the cloak from the coat rack, Ruby paused for a moment, running her hand over the fabric before bringing it over to Weiss. Instead of passing it to the Faunus to don, Ruby swung it around Weiss’ shoulders and fastened it herself, ensuring the warm layers of fabric sat around Weiss’ neck properly.

“Beautiful.” She murmured absently as she smoothed out the wrinkles, then leaned down to give Weiss a quick kiss. “Breakfast?”

“Breakfast.” Weiss agreed, offering a hand and allowing Ruby to lead the way out of their room and downstairs. Nora and Yang were already in the kitchen along with Ren, who was having a hard time keeping his girlfriend away from the food even with Yang’s assistance.

“It’s not ready yet, Nora.” He grunted out, one hand planted firmly on her forehead, the other keeping some bacon from burning.

“But Reeeeen! I’m hungry!” Nora insisted as she tried to break free of Yang’s grip. It took Weiss and Ruby a moment to recover their wits after seeing the strangeness of the scene, but once they had, Ruby just nodded to Weiss.

No words were needed as Weiss fell into Ruby’s plan, marching over to the stovetop and taking the spatula from Ren, taking over his duties as chef whilst Ruby joined her sister in restraining Nora. In short order, Nora was trussed up with some rope Ren had procured from… somewhere, and he was free to retake the reins of the breakfast whilst the other three collapsed around the table with the incredibly disgruntled Nora.

“I only wanted a taste.” She moaned forlornly at her unyielding partner.

“You know it would have been more than that.” Ren intoned, flipping the bacon out onto a paper towel lined plate and starting the next batch. “And it’s polite to wait.”

“Screw politeness, I’m pan, politeness is for straight people.”

“Nora, you do know no one in this house is straight, right?” Yang told her tied up friend, taking a large drink of water, still exhausted from the effort of Nora-wrangling. “Except Jaune, I guess.”

“Please, I bet you 50 lien Jaune’s not straight.” Nora scoffed, wiggling a little until her hand popped up above the tabletop holding some lien.

“Yeah, I’m not taking that bet. Jaune obviously isn’t straight, I’m just trying to show the guy some respect. He’s probably still figuring himself out and he doesn’t need us being pushy or prying.” Yang insisted, pushing Nora’s hand away.

“Boo, would’ve been easy money.” Huffing, Nora tucked away her money. Fortunately, Weiss was saved from having to participate in the conversation by a tapping on her shoulder, and she looked up to see a familiar crooked grin.

_ ‘Morning, Weiss! Have a good sleep?’ _

“Very good, thanks, and you?”

_ ‘Not bad, not bad.’  _ Nodding her greetings to the rest of the table, Neo settled herself beside Weiss.  _ ‘You said we needed to talk?’ _

“Yes, you, me and Ruby have some things we need to discuss and clear up about… you know.” Neo’s eyes widened and she hastily signed.

_ ‘It’s happening? Seriously?’  _ Weiss shot a quick glance at Ruby, who sat on her other side watching the conversation intently. Ruby answered for the Faunus.

“Yes, but we do need to discuss things first.” Both Weiss and Neo stared at Ruby, who blushed a little. “I asked Ren to teach me.”

“What are you three up to?” Yang asked suspiciously, her gaze flickering between them.

“It’s private.” Weiss supplied smoothly as Ren entered the room with some plates stacked with food. “Ren, do you mind if we take some food to the living room?”

“Go ahead.” Accepting one of the proffered plates each, the three girls got up and, after making a quick stop in the kitchen to collect cutlery, they left the others to their breakfast, ignoring Yang’s scrutiny as they made their way upstairs.

After laying out their spoils on the coffee table, Ruby pilfered some of the cushions from the seats around the room for them to sit on whilst Weiss and Neo divided the food amongst them. Once they were all settled, Weiss cleared her throat nervously.

“So, um, Ruby, how good is your ASL?”

“I only started learning a couple of days ago.”

“Right, Neo do you mind using your scroll so you don’t need to talk through me?”

‘I can manage like this. 😊😊’

“Thanks, Neo.” Weiss took a few bites of breakfast as she mulled over what she was going to say next, and in the end turned helplessly to Ruby. “Ruby?”

“Oh! Yeah, um...” Hastily swallowing down a mouthful of scrambled eggs, Ruby looked to Neo. “So, uh, Weiss told me on the first day you guys got here that she discovered that she’s polyamorous and that she wanted to start dating you.”

Neo nodded along, she already knew this, Weiss having filled her in with Ruby’s permission afterwards. “Right, so I was kinda shocked and I’ve been sorta processing and thinking about it.” A small frown crossed Ruby’s face as she glanced over at Weiss. “I did a bit of research and asked Nora for some hypothetical advice, and we’re supposed to have open and honest communication. So… I was really scared about this.”

Weiss felt her heart stutter in her chest and Neo’s eyes widened, but neither interrupted as Ruby continued. “I was scared that if you started dating, you’d take Weiss away from me.” There was a look of hurt and horror on Neo’s face as she typed out a reply.

‘I swear I would never do that, Ruby. Neither of us want you and Weiss to break up.’

“I know, but I’m being open and honest and I’m not scared of that happening anymore, well, a lot less scared of it happening. But you’ve been together for longer than Weiss and I have been together-together, you fit with each other effortlessly and… I was afraid if Weiss was with a real girl, she wouldn’t want to be with me any more.”

“Ruby! I told you before, you are a real girl and I don’t want you to say that you aren’t.” Weiss thrust her fork at Ruby for emphasis as Neo cocked her head and typed out a message.

‘I think I understand what this is about, but I don’t want to make any assumptions.’ Shuffling a little nervously, Ruby took a deep breath to steel herself and looked up at Neo.

“I’m transgender, Neo.” The slight tremor in her voice belied her nervousness as Neo nodded in understanding.

‘I figured as much with the whole ‘real girl’ thing. Though if we’re going by biological essentialism, I’m not exactly a ‘real girl’ either. 😅’ Blinking in surprise, Weiss exchanged glances with Ruby, who looked equally shocked by this revelation. Had Neo really just told them that she was trans too?

‘I see that look and I’m not actually trans, I was assigned female at birth and I’m perfectly happy with that.’ Neo quickly disabused them of their theory and tapped out a continuation at their questioning looks. ‘Short version, I have a disorder which means my body doesn’t process androgens. I don’t have ovaries or other lady bits and I’m kinda infertile. Just another thing for my parents to hate me for. 😂’

Ruby gave Weiss a meaningful glance, before the pair crawled around the table to hug Neo from either side. “I’m sorry your parents were so awful to you, Neo.” Weiss mumbled, Ruby nodding along into Neo’s shoulder.

“You’ve got us now, we’re your family.” Heat radiated from Neo and Weiss was sure she’d be as red as Ruby’s cloak as she raised her scroll.

‘I think we’ve gotten a bit off track.’

“Hmmm, maybe. But we’re still gonna hug you for a while.” Ruby squeezed Neo a little harder and Weiss followed suit, reaching up to run a hand through Neo’s full silken tresses, so different in texture from Ruby’s, but no less lovely.

After another minute, the red and white pair broke their hug, a little reluctantly on Weiss’ part, and returned to their seats around the table. “Right, so yeah. I’ve been thinking about this… and I’m okay with this. More than okay, and I want us to explore this.”

A wide smile split Neo’s face and she started bouncing in place. ‘You’re serious? 😀’

“I am. Which is why we need to have a discussion about boundaries and stuff.” Neo nodded eagerly, already typing out her next message.

‘Of course, so what do you propose?’

“Okay, so we’re both sharing Weiss, so we should both be able to spend equal time with her.”

‘Of course. How do you feel about seeing PDA between me and Weiss? I’m perfectly fine with it, by the way. I actually kinda enjoy it.’ Neo blushed deeply at her last sentence, as did Weiss and Ruby.

“O-Oh, I’m fine with it, yeah…” Ruby mumbled out, still blushing. “Weiss and I share a bed sometimes, it’s only fair you should be able to as well.”

‘Just to clarify, do you mean with the both of you in the same bed? Because I may be small, but I don’t think these beds will hold three of us.’

“No no no!” Ruby flailed, somehow her face turned even redder. “I meant just you and Weiss sharing a bed. It’s a bit of a squeeze, but it works.”

‘Good to know. Weiss, do you have anything you want to say?’ Weiss blinked a couple of times. She’d been content to let the other two who would be sharing her discuss the rules, but she really should get involved in this. She was an equal partner in this relationship, after all.

“Not really, just that we should keep doing this. Not a big sit down, I mean, just communicating regularly, you know? Checking in every so often, and if something’s bothering us, we tell the others about it instead of letting things fester. There will definitely be things that come up which we haven’t yet discussed, but we’ll take them as they come.” Weiss smiled at Ruby and Neo in turn.

“This could be something beautiful. It’s going to take work from all of us, but I know we can do this.” The other two returned Weiss’ smile and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah! Of course we can!” Ruby cheered as she finished off the last of her breakfast. “I think that’s everything?”

‘Actually, there was one thing I wanted to ask.’ Neo’s fingers moved slightly hesitantly across the keyboard. ‘Ruby, how do you feel about the possibility of  _ us  _ dating?’ Ruby let out a tiny squeak as she read the message and Weiss gaped at Neo.

“Wait, Neo, you want to date Ruby too?”

‘I don’t see why not. In case you hadn’t noticed, your girlfriend is really cute and pretty.’ There was another squeak of embarrassment from Ruby as she buried herself deeper into her cloak. Weiss looked from Neo to Ruby and back again, thoughts whirling through her head. Neo was attracted to Ruby too? Really, she shouldn’t be all that surprised. Ruby was the most pure-hearted, kind and forgiving soul she knew, you’d have to be blind not to start falling for her charms.

Weiss’ imagination briefly conjured up the image of Neo and Ruby kissing, hands entangled in each other’s hair. The thought made something warm swell in Weiss’ chest.

“I-I don’t think so…” Ruby spoke up, dispelling the surprisingly pleasurable picture from Weiss’ mind. “I’d like to be friends with you, Neo, but I think dating’s a bit too far.” Nodding in understanding, though a small frown did crease her face briefly, Neo typed out a quick reply.

‘Friends is good. 😊😊 I’d like that, especially if we’re going to be metamours.’ Ruby shot Neo a small smile, her face starting to return to its normal colour.

“If that’s everything for now, we should get these plates back to the kitchen and start washing up.”

‘Actually, one very last thing. Ruby, would you mind if I kissed Weiss right now?’

“Go ahead.” Grinning happily, Neo crawled around the side of the table and all but lunged at Weiss, slamming their lips together and fisting her hands in the Faunus’ shirt. Weiss let her eyes flicker shut as Neo took the lead, her mouth working against Weiss’. Of particular note to Weiss’ kiss-addled mind was that Neo tasted faintly of vanilla, and wondered what it would be like to kiss Ruby and Neo, one after the other.

Eventually, Neo broke away, panting a little for breath as she pulled out her scroll. ‘I have been wanting to do that properly for ages. It was well worth the wait. 😘🥰’

A dopey grin spread across Weiss’ face and she glanced over to see what Ruby’s reaction was, and was a little surprised to see the younger girl transfixed by the scene, teeth sank into her lower lip. After recovering for a moment, Weiss looked between her partners.

“Clearing up?”

“Yes!” Ruby agreed, perhaps a little too loudly, and she began gathering up plates as Neo giggled wheezily before joining in to help. The three of them gathered up the plates and began to descend the stairs when a thought occurred to Weiss.

“We’re going to have to tell the others about this, aren’t we? I do not want Yang thinking I’m cheating on Ruby with Neo if she were to see us together.”

“Don’t worry, Weiss, Yang knows you’d never cheat on me.” Ruby reassured her girlfriend.

“Even so, I’d rather there not be any confusion. It’s going to be so awkward explaining this to Ozpin, isn’t it?”

‘Think of it as our first challenge as a polycule, Snowflake.’ Weiss let out a snort of amusement. She supposed it would be that, and after how well things had just gone, Weiss felt like nothing could bring her down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sound the alarms, it's finally happened people! I can now at last add the long awaited relationship tag! Of course just because they had this talk doesn't mean everything's perfect, they're gonna still gonna screw up but hopefully with this time they've taken they're going to be able to fix things without much mess. I'm very optimistic about our girls' future together.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being such a cutie. Thanks too to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being one of the best girlfriends a girl could ask for.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	47. Chapter 47

Weiss wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed at the overwhelming lack of reaction from her friends when the three of them returned to the dining room and announced that Weiss and Neo were now dating.

“Neo looks at you like you’re the most beautiful person in existence, we’d be stupid not to expect this, but couldn’t you at least have waited another couple of days?” Nora grumbled as she handed over some Lien to Ren, who tucked it away with a faint smirk.

Weiss definitely knew how to feel about them gambling on her love life, however. “You placed bets on how long it would take me and Neo to start dating!?”

“Well, yeah, what else are we gonna do for fun around here?”

“Maybe read a book or something?” Weiss huffed as Neo giggled wheezily and Ruby tried to hide a grin behind her hand.

_ Come on, Snowflake, you’ve got to admit this is way more fun than that.’ _

“We’re doing pet names already, are we?” Rolling her eyes fondly, Weiss sidled over to Neo and slipped an arm around her waist, leaning down a little to whisper into her ear. “You sure you can handle that, Suße?” Weiss was rewarded for her efforts by a whispery squeak and a light blush spreading across Neo’s cheeks.

“Dear gods, you two are sickening.” Yang groaned, tossing a toast crust at the pair. “And I thought you and Ruby were bad enough already, now I’ve gotta put up with this?”

“We can dial it back if it makes you uncomfortable, Yang.” Weiss said quickly, remembering Yang’s romantic woes and how it was probably in bad taste to parade both of her relationships in front of the blonde.

“Just don’t start making out with either of your girlfriends right in front of me and we’re cool.” Yang waved off Weiss’ offer before fixing Neo with an intense red-flecked glare. “You though, don’t you fucking dare break Weiss’ heart or hurt her, otherwise our rematch won’t end so pretty.”

“Yang, whilst I appreciate the sentiment, please don’t threaten Neo.”

“Fine, fine. Seriously though, congrats Weiss, I hope it works out for you.” Yang offered Weiss a small smile, which the white-haired girl returned, glad that Yang seemed to be somewhat accepting of her and Neo’s relationship.

“Agreed.” Jaune’s smile seemed a little strained and his eyes flickered to Ren every so often. Weiss was torn. Now that her love life was reasonably steady, she felt she was in a position where she could intervene and help Jaune, but at the same time, interfering in other people’s business without their permission was wrong, especially when it was this personal.

“Thanks.” Weiss squeezed Neo a little closer and there was a strange strangled choking sound from behind them. Looking back, Weiss was only a little surprised to see it was Qrow who had made the sound.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Good morning to you too, Qrow.” Weiss snarked back, moving instinctively to put herself between the lanky man and Neo. “As I think you may have deduced, Neo and I are dating now.”

“Really though, mini ice queen? Out of all the girls in Remnant, you had to pick the cold-blooded murderous criminal who tried to kill your girlfriend.”

“ _ Ex-criminal. _ ” Weiss emphasised sternly, scowling up at Qrow. “Neo’s reformed now, so stop calling her a criminal. And I’m pretty sure it’s Ruby’s lead we should be following when it comes to her and Neo’s fight, not yours.” Weiss was starting to get very annoyed by people who kept refusing to trust Neo even after everything she’d done to prove she’d changed, annoyed enough that she didn’t quite think through the implications of her next argument.

“And besides that, we both know neither of us have the cleanest of hands either when it comes to murder.” An awkward silence fell over the group as they processed Weiss’ words, then Ruby stepped forward tentatively.

“Weiss… You’ve killed someone?” The Faunus flinched a little at the hesitance in Ruby’s words. Glancing back at the others briefly she saw similar looks of shock on their faces to Ruby’s, only Yang’s expression hadn’t changed as she looked back at Weiss, face carefully neutral.

“I did what I had to do to keep the people I love safe.” Weiss’ voice was soft, but there was a hard edge to it, daring anyone in the room to question her decisions. It was a lie though. She hadn’t killed Pitch to protect Ruby or anyone else, and she certainly wasn’t going to kill Cinder and her lackeys to do that either. “Can we not talk about it? It’s not important anymore.”

“But Weiss-.”

“Please, Ruby.” She met her girlfriend’s gaze evenly, silently begging her to drop it. After a moment’s pause, she nodded slowly.

“We need to talk about this later.” Weiss inclined her head in agreement, despite having no intention of following through, and returned her attention to Qrow.

“I don’t care what you think about me and Neo. Quite frankly, it’s none of your business who I date, but I happen to respect you enough to let you know. And so that you don’t think I’m cheating on Ruby when you inevitably catch us in something.”

Weiss met Qrow’s hooded eyes calmly and eventually he broke, looking away and coughing to cover up his awkwardness. “It’s too early for this shit, I haven’t even had a drink yet.” Waving his hand dismissively, Qrow sloped off, pulling out his hip flask as he went, pausing only to toss a few Lien at Ren, which he tucked away smugly.

Weiss didn’t move from her spot until she was sure Qrow had left, turning back to face the others as Neo wrapped herself around Weiss’ arm, eyes sparkling. “So… what are you guys planning on doing today?” She asked, trying to deflect them away from the tense conversation and the secret Weiss had inadvertently revealed.

“Probably more training.” Yang answered after a short pause. “Not really much else we can do until Qrow gets us those licenses.”

“I’m going into the city for a bit.” Jaune announced, standing up from the breakfast table. “Anything to not stay cooped up in this house.”

“I think I’ll join you.” Ruby looked to Weiss, concern still in her expression. “Weiss, do you want to come?”

“Actually, I was hoping to spend some time by myself, maybe do some reading and just decompress a little, and process all of this.” Gesturing between herself, Neo and Ruby, Weiss felt a small pang of guilt that immediately after getting together with Neo she was asking to be alone.

“I think that sounds like a good idea.” Ren spoke up, surprising the group. “It’s important that you take some time to yourself in a relationship and remember that you’re two, well, three separate people, not one unit.”

“Since when are you the expert?” Ren rolled his eyes at Yang’s scrutiny.

“Nora and I have had a lot of practice and time together to work things out.” Nobody other than Weiss seemed to notice Jaune’s slight flinch as he was reminded once again that his crush was already taken. They were all too distracted by Nora crawling over to Ren to give him a soft kiss.

“That’s my clever Ren.” She cooed as Yang mimed gagging.

“What did I just say about making out in front of me?” Getting up from the table in mock disgust, Yang marched out of the room calling over her shoulder. “I’m going to beat the stuffing out of some training dummies, if anyone wants to join.” Pondering the thought for a moment, Weiss looked down at Neo, who was still happily clinging onto her arm.

“Can you keep yourself out of trouble for the morning?” There was a small frown from Neo, but she did nod and release Weiss, signing once she did so.

_ ‘So long as I get some time with you this afternoon.’ _

“Of course, Suße.” Smiling sweetly at her girlfriends, Weiss left the room to jog after Yang, catching up to the blonde as she was about to enter the indoor training area.

“Hey, Weiss, you up for some hand-to-hand practice, then?”

“I suppose I could stand to go a few rounds of getting knocked around the place.”

“Don’t be like that, Weiss. You’ve gotten a lot better at fighting now. I’d be terrified if I had to face you and that knight of yours in a real fight.”

“You’re just saying that.” Weiss blushed as she hung her cloak up to one side and rolled up her sleeves.

“No I’m not, you’re genuinely terrifying.” Grinning, Yang made her way into the center of the room and dropped into her usual boxing stance waiting for Weiss to join her. “Semblances?”

“I need to not rely on one technique so much, so no semblances.” Weiss approached Yang and dropped into a similar stance.

“Alright then, show me wh-.” Yang’s taunt was interrupted as Weiss lashed out with a lightning fast jab that Yang was only just able to block. “Not bad, Weissicle!” Weiss swayed back out of Yang’s retaliatory punches, taking a leaf out of Neo’s book and using minimal energy to dodge.

Ducking under a particularly vicious right hook, instead of retreating as she had been doing, Weiss kicked forward and rammed a shoulder into Yang’s abdomen, unfortunately not knocking the breath out of Yang as she’d hoped and instead rattling Weiss.

“Abs of steel.” The blonde gloated as Weiss staggered back, flexing and rotating her battered shoulder. Yang didn’t let Weiss recover for long though, and instead pressed her advantage, incorporating a few kicks into her flurry of attacks and forcing Weiss to start blocking a few rather than swaying out of the way. Each blocked punch still sent shockwaves through Weiss’ bones and within a minute she was gasping on the floor after Yang swept the legs out from underneath her.

“You did pretty well, all things considered.” Grumbling a little under her breath, Weiss accepted a hand up from Yang. “Your recovery needs some work though, you let yourself get flustered when your shoulder blow didn’t work and let me take control of the fight.”

“Noted.” The pair settled back into their stances and rather than Weiss going for a quick opener they instead circled one another, waiting for the other to make the first move. “I’m sorry, by the way. I didn’t mean to flaunt my new relationship in front of you, it was thoughtless.”

“It’s fine.” Yang accompanied her response with a rabbit punch that Weiss easily evaded. “I’m not repulsed by sex or romance or anything, I’m just ace.”

“Not why I was apologising.” Weiss tried her luck with a feint to left, followed up by a kick that Yang neatly hopped over. “It was thoughtless because of, well… you and Blake and how that ended.” 

Understanding dawned in Yang’s eyes as she gave up on waiting for Weiss and powered forward with a combination of punches and elbows. “I’m not going to begrudge any of you your relationships just because things ended badly between me and Blake.” Weiss grunted as she caught an elbow that had been destined for her temple with her wing and threw it back, following it up with a blow from her other wing to Yang’s side.

“Even so, it does feel a little like we’re rubbing it in your face a little.” Weiss was now taking full advantage of her extra limbs, using her wings to block Yang’s attacks even though they rattled her bones even through her aura.

“Like I said, just don’t start sucking face right in front of me and we’re cool.” Yang proceeded to catch both of Weiss’ wings and pulled them apart, jumping up to slam a two-footed kick into Weiss’ stomach as she did so, sending Weiss reeling and unable to stop Yang as she got up and pulled Weiss into a choke hold.

“Weiss, you’re pretty much my sister, and have been since before you and Ruby started dating. If Neo makes you happy, then that’s great.” Weiss’ swell of happiness at Yang’s words was somewhat muted by the tight grip Yang had around her throat. “Honestly, I’m not thrilled about you dating Neo. I still don’t trust her quite that much. Like, I trust her to have my back in a fight, but I don’t know her well enough to know if she’s a good match for you.”

“I’m touched that you care so much about me.” Weiss choked out, wriggling and trying to get free before giving up and tapping out.

“We’ve been a family for ages, Weiss, of course I do.” Releasing Weiss, Yang shook out her arms, checking the mechanism on her prosthetic was still smooth. “Not bad, by the way. Incorporating the wings was a pretty good idea, but you over-extended when you were using them to attack. Maybe next time just use them to shore up your defenses.”

“Got it.” Weiss gingerly rubbed her stomach, Yang’s kick had really winded her.

“Fancy another round?”

“In a moment, let me just catch my breath.” Weiss made her way over to the water cooler and poured herself some water, quaffing it eagerly and setting her used cup aside before squaring up against Yang once more.

“What are you going to tell Ruby, then?”

“About what?”

“About… y’know…” Yang drew a couple of fingers across her neck in lieu of saying the words.

“Nothing.”

“Weiss, you agreed to talk about it later with her, we were all there.”

“Well, I lied. We’re entitled to our own privacy and secrets, aren’t we? Being in a relationship doesn’t mean we’re obliged to share everything.” Weiss tried to defend herself as she charged at Yang in an attempt to distract her with the bout. Yang, however, wasn’t having it.

“There’s a difference between privacy and outright lying to your partner.” The blonde grunted, blocking a wild punch from Weiss and throwing a couple of her own. “I was fine with us keeping it between ourselves, but it’s out in the open now and, like it or, not Ruby is going to want to talk to you about it.”

“I know…” Weiss grumbled, ducking under a hook and slamming a solid body blow into Yang’s stomach. “I shouldn’t have let it slip. It was careless of me, but I was so frustrated about Qrow not trusting Neo and trying to be all high and mighty about it.”

“Yeah, Qrow’s kind of a jerk.” Yang huffed, slamming her full body weight down onto Weiss before she could retreat. “But why are you so reluctant to talk to Ruby about it?” Weiss struggled underneath Yang’s weight as she pulled the Faunus into a lock.

“It doesn’t… matter…” Squirming around in a desperate bid for freedom, Weiss couldn’t help but remember the look on Ruby’s face when she’d let slip her crime. “I yield!” Gasping in relief as Yang released her, Weiss staggered to her feet, glaring at the blonde.

“Weiss-.”

“Can we please just drop the subject?” Weiss growled, massaging one of her over-exerted joints before dropping into a ready stance. “Again.” After a moment’s hesitation, Yang capitulated and readied herself for the next bout.

All in all, they fought another six rounds, each one ending in Weiss’ defeat. But with each fight she could tell she was getting better as she took on Yang’s advice after every fight, each one taking longer than the last. Whilst she didn’t envision herself fighting unarmed to be much of a possibility, several of Yang’s suggestions were generally applicable to her normal style.

“Okay, I think I’ve been beaten up enough for one day.” Weiss finally said as she crawled back to her feet after being caught out by a particularly tricky feint and paid for it with a powerful sock to the jaw.

“If ya say so, Weissy.” Yang panted, a little out of breath herself as she checked the time on her scroll. “Wow, we’ve been at this for a while. I’m gonna go take a shower, you wanna come?”

“Not right now, I’m going to cool off outside for a while.”

“Okay. Good session, Weiss.” With a thumbs up, Yang re-entered the house whilst Weiss headed for the door that led out onto the expansive backyard. She was rather surprised to see a familiar figure perched on the fence that bordered the small cliff the house was built upon. Quietly, Weiss walked over to the hunched over girl and leaned up against the railing.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Nah, go ahead!” Nora chirped, not looking up from what Weiss could now see was a sketchbook. With a small grunt of effort, Weiss hoisted herself up onto the fence to sit beside Nora who was busy drawing the cityscape that spread out below them. “Have fun getting your ass handed to you?”

“I've had worse beatings.” Weiss replied glibly, examining the drawing more closely. “You draw very well. How long have you been doing it?”

“Can’t really remember. For a long time though. I didn’t get much of a chance at Beacon, too many classes and not enough downtime. I did get a few portraits in though.” Nora paused in her sketching to flip back through the previous pages. Weiss was unsurprised to see several pictures of Ren as well as a few of Jaune. Close to the front of the book, Nora paused, running a hand over a flawless rendering of Pyrrha caught in the middle of what looked like joyous laughter.

“That was at the dance.” Nora answered Weiss’ unasked question. “After Jaune showed up in that dress, that was the first time I ever saw her laugh, like, properly laugh.” Smiling sadly down at the picture, Nora’s fingers traced the curve of Pyrrha’s lips. “That image of her, just laughing so freely, it stuck with me, and I drew this the moment I got back to the dorms.”

Nora paused for a moment, lost in thought, and when she continued her voice was so soft compared to her usual loud volume. “I loved her, you know? The same way I love Ren. I was going to give this to her after she won the tournament as a courting gift.” The normally boisterous girl sniffed loudly, wiping at her eyes before her tears fell and stained the drawing. “We all loved her, how could we not? Pyrrha was the best of us, radiant, beautiful and always wanting to do the right thing even at the cost of her own life.” There was another loud sniff, and Weiss did what she always did in these moments and wrapped a wing around the grieving girl.

“I’m sorry I shouted at you, back in Vale, when you brought us her things.”

“You were upset and in shock, it’s okay.” Weiss soothed Nora even as she felt as though her heart was caught in her throat as she was reminded of her broken promise.

“No it’s not. You did everything you could and you brought at least a little bit of Pyrrha back to us.”

“Carry my blade with you when I am gone, and may it serve you well. For as long as you wield my blade, I shall never leave you.” Weiss murmured, reciting part of one of the verses her mother had taught her long ago.

“What?”

“It’s scripture, from my faith. It teaches that our loved ones will never truly leave us, so long as we carry a part of them with us, whether it be a shield or a circlet or even just a drawing of them.”

Nora didn’t answer for a while, still staring down at the picture. “Thanks for saying that, Weiss. But I’d much rather have Pyrrha here than just a picture.”

“I know… I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how much it must hurt to have lost someone you loved like that.”

“It hurt us all, but I think Jaune took it the hardest. After you told us what happened… he didn’t speak for days, and he barely ate.”

“I’m worried about him.” Weiss confessed, remembering how distraught the poor boy had been when he’d confessed his feelings towards Ren. “I know Jaune and I weren’t close or anything, but there’s been something off about him.”

“Yeah… I know what you mean. Ren and I have been trying to be there for him, but he keeps pulling away. I don’t know what else we can do for him other than just let him know we’re there for him.”

“I don’t think that’ll work.” Weiss said carefully, mulling over her next words carefully. Perhaps she could get the best of both worlds with helping Jaune, not directly intervening, just nudging people in the right direction. “I think Jaune needs more of a push in this situation, otherwise he probably won’t reach out for help.”

“You sure? I don’t wanna push too hard and end up pushing him into a corner.”

“I needed Yang to push me into going to counselling back at Beacon. Sometimes people need that little shove.” Of course, Weiss didn’t tell Nora how her abortive attempt at counselling went. It was both irrelevant and unhelpful.

“I guess Ren and I could try to include him more and get him to open up.” Nora mused to herself as Weiss breathed a soft sigh of relief that her plan seemed to be working. “Thanks for the advice, Weiss.”

“It’s what friends do.” Weiss shrugged as Nora flipped back to her current drawing and resumed her sketching. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, Weiss admiring the scenery as Nora rendered it with confident pencil strokes. They remained like that until a question that had been digging in the back of her mind since earlier that morning refused to stay buried.

“How did you know mine and Neo’s attraction was mutual? You only mentioned Neo when you justified yourself earlier.”

“I mean, you do look at her with the same goo-goo eyes you give Ruby. But I think the biggest giveaway was when you introduced her as your ‘hot friend Neo’.” Weiss blinked in confusion.

“No I didn’t.” She was certain she’d remember doing something like that.

“Yep, you did!” An amused grin was spreading across Nora’s face. “Was it Neo who taught you how to sign?” The pieces finally clicked together in Weiss’ mind. Dear gods, no wonder Kali had given her such an odd look when she’d first introduced Neo. A deep flush rose from Weiss’ neck and she started to sputter indignantly.

“I- That little- Neo!” Jumping off the fence, Weiss stalked back towards the house, Nora’s raucous laughter trailing after her as she called out for her gremlin of a girlfriend. Oh, that little mischief-maker was going to get it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, a lot happened this chapter, everyone knows Weiss has killed, I wonder what consequences will come of that. Also poor Nora, I'm not kind to these kids at all am I?
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and helping improve the story. Thanks too to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being the Ruby to my Weiss.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	48. Chapter 48

Over the next couple of weeks, Weiss, Neo and Ruby began to settle into their new arrangement. On the surface, nothing much seemed to have changed. Weiss would spend her time alternating between Neo and Ruby, remembering to take some time to herself or with the others in the house every so often. Naturally, the biggest change was how affectionate Neo was with Weiss. Brief hugs now became long cuddle sessions, and Neo seemed to make a point of kissing Weiss at least three times a day, if not more.

Weiss tried to ensure Ruby got equal treatment, but it was both awkward and impractical for her to count the kisses and time the duration of hugs. Weiss did, however, insist on alternating who she would share a bed with, switching between sleeping alone and with one of her girlfriends. Neo now spent as much time in Weiss and Ruby’s room as she did in her and Yang’s, having taken to using the unoccupied bed whenever it was Ruby’s turn.

In between all of this, Ruby had tried a few times to press Weiss to talk about her accidental confession, but Weiss continually avoided the matter. No good would come of it, Weiss was convinced of that, especially if she were to share her and Neo’s plans.

Despite being caught up with Ruby’s pushing, there was one thing that concerned Weiss that she could actually deal with. Despite Ruby and Neo agreeing to be friends, the two rarely seemed to interact outside of group settings. They weren’t unfriendly by any means, in fact, Ruby was still the most welcoming to Neo, but Ruby did seem a little… awkward around her.

So Weiss decided she needed to take things into her own hands, and to that end she volunteered their services to Ren as grocery shoppers. And if it distracted Ruby, all the better. As it turned out, this was not Weiss’ best idea.

“Weeeeiiiissssss!” Weiss’ palm made a loud slapping sound against her forehead as she stopped pushing the trolley and turned to face her wheedling girlfriend.

“What have you found this time, Ruby?”

“Long biscuit sticks with chocolate on them!” The red-cloaked girl eagerly shoved a small rectangular box in Weiss’ face, her arms laden with several more.

“Is it on Ren’s list?” Weiss asked, she already knew it wasn’t but she still felt the need to impress it upon Ruby.

“Yep!”

“What?!”

“Right here!” Ruby had to drop a few of the boxes into the trolley in order to brandish Ren’s carefully itemised shopping list at Weiss, which she took in disbelief. Thankfully her confusion was quickly alleviated.

“Half-credit for trying Ruby, but there’s a few mistakes here. Firstly, it’s written in a different colour to the rest of the list, secondly, it’s in a completely different hand-writing, and thirdly, and perhaps most damning of all, it’s got little hearts and smiley faces scribbled around it. Which means only one thing: Neo?!”

Weiss waited for a few moments, tapping her foot until her other girlfriend poked her head around the end of the aisle. Skipping up to Weiss with a wide innocent smile, Neo waited expectantly as Ruby tried to sneak more of the boxes into the cart.

_ ‘Yes, Snowflake?’ _

“Care to explain this?” Weiss held the list out for Neo to read with one hand whilst she removed the boxes of snacks from the cart with the other.

_ ‘It looks like Ren wants us to get several boxes of Tocky. I guess he is the chef, so no use arguing!’  _ Neo’s cheeky grin did falter a little under Weiss’ baleful gaze.

“Neo, can you please be sensible about this? We don’t get a particularly large stipend, so we can’t afford to waste it on snacks.”

_ ‘But Weiss, it’s not a waste, these things are an important part of dating.’  _ Weiss knew she would regret it, but she had to ask.

“How?”

_ ‘Well, you take one like this.’  _ Before Weiss could stop her, Neo grabbed one of the boxes and opened it up. She’d have to pay for that now. Taking one of the long biscuits, Neo placed the tip of the chocolate coated end in her mouth and handed the box over to Ruby so her hands were free.  _ ‘Then you bite on the other end and we work our way to the center!’ _

Weiss had been right, she did regret asking, and a deep blush suffused her cheeks. “Neo! We are not doing that!”

_ ‘Awwww, come on!’  _ Neo pouted as best as she could around the biscuit and turned to Ruby.  _ ‘What about you, Ruby? You want to have a go?’  _ Ruby blushed furiously and stammered a little at Neo’s suggestion.

“I-I uh…”

_ ‘Maybe another time, then.’  _ Neo smirked and finished the biscuit stick herself. Weiss wasn’t entirely sure what Neo was up to, but it seemed like she was flirting with Ruby, something Weiss wasn’t sure how to feel about. On the one hand, Ruby had said she didn’t want to date Neo, but on the other, far more selfish hand, Weiss really liked watching Neo fluster Ruby.

The brunette was starting to recover a little from Neo’s suggestion and turned her puppy-dog eyes on Weiss. “Can we please get them anyway? They look really tasty!”

_ ‘They are. Have one.’  _ Neo extracted another stick and passed it to Ruby, who swallowed it down in a matter of seconds, making a small happy noise as she did so.

“Princeeeeeess, please?”

“No, Ruby. We’re not getting any more. Please put those back.” Weiss gestured at the boxes in the trolley, which Ruby reluctantly retrieved.

_ ‘We tried, Ruby.’  _ Neo dropped the open box into the cart and to both Ruby and Weiss’ surprise, wrapped the red-cloaked girl in a brief, yet tight hug.

“I’d better put these back.” Ruby hastily excused herself, skittering away from the other two to replace the snacks.

“Neo, what was that?” Weiss asked curiously and Neo just shrugged.

_ ‘I’m a physically affectionate person. I thought you’d know that by now, given how much we snuggle.’ _

“I’m well aware, but you’re not usually that affectionate with anyone other than me.”

_ ‘I hugged Sun plenty of times. Admittedly, it was mostly whilst you were avoiding me and I was kind of attention-starved.’  _

“Yet I haven’t seen you hug anyone else at the house.” Weiss pointed out shrewdly.

_ ‘Would you like an itemised list of why I don’t regularly hug all your friends? Yang doesn’t like me enough for physical contact outside of training, I’d probably make Ren really uncomfortable, Nora would crush me and Jaune’s all boney and stuff. And perhaps most importantly, they aren’t you.’ _

“Yet you just hugged Ruby.”

_ ‘Weiss, you don’t need to over-analyse everything. You hug Blake and Yang often enough, I’m just trying to be friendly.’  _ Weiss was about to respond but was interrupted by Ruby returning, face still light pink.

“So what’s next on the list?” Ruby asked, feigning calm as she avoided Neo’s curious gaze.

“Let’s see…” Weiss scanned down the list past each ticked off item. “What’s har gow?”

“Oh, I love those!” Ruby chirped, her embarrassment fading quickly as her eyes sparkled. “They’re these steamed shrimp dumplings and they’re delicious!”

“I trust you know where to find them then?”

“Yep!” Grabbing hold of the trolley, Ruby started to push it along the aisle, Weiss and Neo trailing along behind her as she chattered away. “I don’t think they have fresh ones, so we’ll have to get some frozen ones instead.”

Beside Weiss, Neo perked up briefly, then tried to school her expression as Weiss sighed in amused exasperation. “No, Neo. We are not getting ice cream, it’s not on the list.”

_ ‘Spoilsport.’  _ Neo pouted, cheeks puffing adorably as she huffed and turned away from Weiss. Shaking her head, Weiss slipped up behind the diminutive girl to hug her from behind, laying her head upon her shoulder.

“You know it’s not healthy for you to eat so many sweet things, you could get seriously ill if you do. I want you to be healthy.” Neo let out a wheezy huff and started signing before realising Weiss couldn’t see them properly, forcing her to wriggle free to face her girlfriend.

_ ‘I know, but it’s really tasty and I never got to have the nice things I wanted when I was a kid. You know what it’s like growing up amongst the Atlas elite.’  _ Weiss nodded sadly, remembering well how everything in her life had been dictated to her with no attention paid to what she wanted.  _ ‘I only got to have ice cream four times before I joined up with Roman. Four times! I need to make up for lost time’ _

“Tell you what,” Weiss sighed, “After we’re done here I’ll buy you an ice cream cone on the way back.”

_ ‘You promise?’  _

“Yes, I promise.”

“Weeeeeiss? Can I get one too?” Ruby whined from just ahead, clearly having overheard Weiss’ half of the conversation.

“Yes, Ruby. I’ll buy you both an ice cream on the way back  _ provided  _ you both behave whilst we’re still here, and no more trying to sneak extra things into the trolley.” There was a round of reluctant agreement from the other two as Weiss smirked in victory over her successful bribe.

“Here we are, frozen dim sum. Is there anything else we need to get from here other than the har gow?” Ruby asked as she retrieved a packet from the chest freezers arranged down the middle of the aisle and tossed it into the cart.

“I don’t know.” Weiss held out the list for Ruby to take.

“Let’s see, more baos... ooh, siew mai!” Ruby muttered to herself as she walked along the freezer collecting various bags and packets of frozen food and tossing it into the trolley, which was fast filling up. Turned out feeding and shopping for eight people and Nora was a far more laborious task than Weiss gave Ren credit for.

“I think that’s it!” Ruby chirped as she fished out a large tub of ice cream from a freezer and dropped it in the trolley.

“Um, Ruby? What did I say about sneaking extra things?” Weiss warned, only to be met with a pair of mischievous smirks.

“Oh but Weiss. It  _ is  _ on the list!” Ruby sang, waving the list in front of Weiss for her to see. Sure enough, in Ren’s neat handwriting were the words ‘Syrup ice cream’. Weiss flushed with embarrassment, she’d looked at the list several times and did distinctly remember asking Ren about the presence of ice cream on there.

_ ‘I think someone jumped to conclusions!’  _ Neo grinned, stepping away from Weiss’ side to stand with Ruby, whose smile was just as wide and smug.  _ ‘That was very rude of Weiss, wasn’t it?’ _

“It was, and frankly I am hurt by how little she seems to think of me, and by extension, you.” Weiss groaned loudly as the pair continued their double act, clearly having a great time.

_ ‘I think she should be punished for her nasty assumptions, don’t you?’  _ There was no response from Ruby as she cocked her head in confusion, forcing Neo to pull out her scroll to translate for the brunette.

“Oh! Yeah! I think so too.” Ruby grinned evilly, which made Weiss’ head go to several uncomfortably pleasurable places, not helped by Neo, who was looking at Weiss and gave her the uncomfortable impression she knew exactly where Weiss’ mind had gone.

“Now, knowing my Princess like I do, I suspect when she was going to get us ice cream she was only going to get us a single scoop each and no toppings.” With a wheezy gasp, Neo affected a look of deep affront, as she glared at Weiss. “I think perhaps Weiss’ punishment should be that she has to buy us whatever we want at the ice cream parlour, with no complaining.”

_ ‘I like the way you think, Little Red.’  _ Neo slid in close to Ruby after she finished signing and wrapped a casual arm around the girl’s waist, nuzzling into her side a little. It was as though a switch had been flipped, the impish glee that had been on Ruby’s face vanished and was replaced with an odd mixture of awkwardness and something that looked a little bit like fear.

“O-Oh, there’s one thing here that we forgot!” She stammered out, swiftly extricating herself from Neo’s grasp. “I’ll just go grab it.” Still looking incredibly awkward, Ruby skittered away and disappeared down one of the aisles.

“Okay, seriously, Neo, what the hell was that?” Shuffling nervously on the spot, Neo flashed Weiss a hesitant grin.

_ ‘I was just being friendly?’  _ Weiss rubbed at the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

“I’m not dumb. Why are you hitting on Ruby?” She asked, fixing Neo with a tired look, and the multicoloured girl shrank a little.

_ ‘I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be doing. She said she wanted us to be friends, and I’ve tried, but she keeps pulling away a little, so I tried pushing harder and it’s not working. I don’t really know how to be friends with people I’m attracted to, I guess? I don’t know.’  _ Looking absolutely miserable, Neo wrapped her arms around herself and frowned despondently at the floor.

“I’m sorry, Süße.” Weiss reached out to place a gentle hand on Neo’s shoulder, giving her room to continue signing.

_ ‘I don’t know what I’m doing. I like Ruby a lot and I don’t know where I should be drawing the line between friendship and romance and I barely know what I’m doing with that too.’  _ Sniffling quietly, Neo had to pause for a moment to wipe at her nose with her sleeve.  _ ‘It’s all so new to me, liking people like this. I have no idea how it works.’ _

“I wasn’t entirely sure either.” Weiss admitted, rubbing Neo’s shoulder comfortingly. “When Ruby and I first started dating, I didn’t really know what I was doing and just bumbled through it. We can work it out together.” Neo let out a soft whine and nuzzled her cheek against Weiss’ hand.

_ ‘I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve you.’ _

“Yes you do, Süße.” Weiss pulled her girlfriend into a tight hug, wrapping her wings around the pair of them. “And it’s not a matter of deserving, I love you. And I’ll talk to Ruby, find out why she’s being strange around you.” Neo hummed in happiness, snuggling closer. They were interrupted however by a loud cough that dripped with disapproval. Breaking apart, Weiss and Neo turned to see a middle-aged couple glaring at them in disgust.

“Honestly, the youth these days.” One of the women muttered in disgust, her gaze firmly fixed on Weiss and her wings.

“I know, all these animals think they can just walk around without a care in the world.” The other woman agreed as they wheeled their own trolley away, talking loud enough to be sure that Weiss and Neo could hear them.

“And to say nothing of that animal-lover with it.” Weiss had to physically restrain Neo from charging after the women, although she too was burning with rage. How dare they insult Neo like that? How very dare they?

“Neo, it’s not worth it!” Weiss grunted with effort as the smaller woman struggled to free herself from Weiss grasp, making several very rude gestures at the retreating couple.

“What’s happening?” Ruby’s voice came from behind and Weiss turned to face her with some difficulty, still wrestling with her other girlfriend.

“Nothing, just a couple of racists.” Weiss growled out, managing to pull Neo into an arm lock Yang was fond of using on Weiss during sparring. Ruby’s normally bright silver eyes turned steely and she leaned to the side to look for them.

“Ruby, no. Just leave it, please.” With a loud huff, Ruby relented, tossing a box of something into the trolley with more force than was strictly necessary. After a couple of minutes, Neo ceased her struggles and Weiss let her go. Brushing herself off and still looking incredibly angry about the comments.

_ ‘Some fucking people. You’re out there keeping them safe from Grimm and they’ve got the nerve to say things like that. And even if you weren’t a huntress...’  _ Neo fumed silently as the three proceeded to the checkout.

“I know, Neo, I know.” It was rather uncomfortable after spending those months in Kuo Kuana to be back amongst Humans who despised her, and it had only been a few weeks too. Sighing deeply as they approached the cashier, Weiss helped unload the trolley onto the conveyor belt and then wheeled it aside.

Ruby and Neo took up bagging duty, filling up the canvas bags Ren had lent them as Weiss returned, already fishing out her wallet as the man announced the total.

“That’s 237 Lien, please.” He told Ruby, completely ignoring Weiss, who was already in the process of counting out her money.

“Um, excuse me? I’m paying.” She told him irritably, but again he pointedly ignored her and held his hand out to Ruby. “Hello?”

“237 Lien, Miss.” Weiss felt the anger that had been bubbling inside after the two women earlier threatening to spill over, but instead she took a deep breath and passed her wallet over to Ruby.

“I’ll meet you outside.” She told her girlfriends, marching away from the counter and out of the store, head held as high as she could. Once outside and sure she was out of sight of the shop’s front windows, Weiss let herself collapse against the brick wall.

Closing her eyes, Weiss groaned loud and long. It was always the little things, the side-eyes, the silent sneers. It was inescapable.

“Weiss?” A small, tentative voice spoke just in front of her and she opened her eyes to meet Ruby’s concerned silver, with Neo’s white peeking out from just behind. “You okay?”

“Not really.” She sighed, reaching out and taking some of the bags from the pair. “But being with you two is already making me feel better.” Straightening up from the wall Weiss offered her girlfriends a faint smile. “I think I owe you both some ice cream, whatever you wanted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say about this one, just our girls going out and being cute together with some set up for later down the line. I will note, it is pretty fun to write Ruby and Neo ganging up on Weiss a little.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being cuddly. Lots of thanks too to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being my 蝴蝶.


	49. Chapter 49

Weiss’ plans to buy her girlfriends ice cream almost immediately hit a snag, namely that she had no idea where to find an ice cream parlour in Mistral. Thankfully, and somewhat unsurprisingly, Neo had memorised the locations of every ice cream parlour in the city and was able to guide them to one that wasn’t too far out of their way.

As they approached the door, Weiss couldn’t help but notice Neo subtly pointing out to Ruby a small sign in the window declaring the store to be Faunus-friendly. Weiss sighed deeply as she silently lamented the fact that such a thing was necessary. The shop’s only occupant was an incredibly bored teenager standing behind the counter, idly flicking through a magazine and only glancing up as the bell above the door rang.

“Welcome to ‘Everyday is like Sundae’, we’ve got the best ice cream in all of Mistral.” They drawled out, straightening up just a little and moving the magazine off the counter. Naturally, Ruby and Neo completely ignored the teen and rushed over to the counter and pressed their noses up against the glass separating them from the ice cream as though they were little kids.

“Ohmygodthey’vegotsomanyflavours!” Ruby squealed gleefully, dropping the shopping bags to paw fruitlessly at the screen. Neo didn’t say anything, but her enthusiasm clearly rivalled Ruby’s by the wide grin on her face as she looked between the various flavours.

“I’m sorry about them.” Weiss apologised to the worker, who she could now see wore a nametag declaring them to be Rowan, rolling her eyes in fond exasperation at her girlfriends’ antics. “I promised them ice cream and they both got rather too excited.”

“Hey, it’s nothing, I’ve seen it all. And you’re a pretty cool big sister, buying them ice cream.” That remark made Neo look up at the teen in offence and scowl at them, dropping her bags to sign at them.

_ ‘I’m older than both of them, and we’re her girlfriends.’  _ She gestured emphatically between herself and Ruby who nodded along.

“Yeah! And we look nothing alike too!” She piped up, looking only a little less offended about being referred to as Weiss’ younger sister.

“Ruby, you and Yang look nothing alike, so I don’t think your point holds.” Weiss pointed out wryly and Ruby just stuck her tongue out at her.

“We’re only half-sisters, Weiss.” Ruby protested, finally peeling herself away from the glass and leaving some smudge marks behind. “And I take after Mom way more than Dad.”

“I know, I know, I’m just teasing.” Weiss smirked at her girlfriend, before noticing how confused the teen behind the counter looked. “We aren’t related, they’re my girlfriends.”

“I see… Well, we’ve got all our flavours laid out here and our signature sundaes up there.” Rowan explained, gesturing up at the menu boards above their head. “It’s kind of a slow day, so feel free to take your time.” With that, they picked up their magazine and continued to read whilst Ruby and Neo eagerly perused the list of sundaes.

“They have so many I can’t decide!” Ruby groaned in disappointment, turning to look at Weiss pitfully, only for the Faunus to cut her off.

“No, Ruby. I promised you one ice cream each, that’s it. And we haven’t got time for you to sit down and have an ice cream sundae, we need to get the frozen food back to the house or Nora will have our heads for letting  _ her _ ice cream melt.”

_ ‘You could always use some Ice Dust to freeze it, then we can take as long as we want.’  _ Neo suggested, grinning gleefully at her brilliant suggestion as Ruby nodded along fervently.

“Yeah, Weiss! Do that!”

“That would be a complete waste of Dust.” Weiss chastised the pair, frowning at their now matching pouts.

“Come on, Princess, please?” Ruby gave Weiss her best puppy dog eyes and Neo did the same, fluttering her eyelids innocently as Weiss felt her resolve start to crumble.

“I don’t know…” She murmured, her left hand starting to drift towards Lilie, having brought her along despite it just being a shopping trip.

_ ‘We won’t be too long, I promise.’  _ Neo implored and Weiss finally gave into their demands.

“Alright, alright. But we’re not staying for too long, I think Ren needs some of this stuff for dinner tonight.” Gathering the bags containing the frozen goods and arranging them in a rough pile, Weiss took a few steps back and aimed Lilie at them. It wasn’t strictly necessary for Weiss to do so when she could just summon glyphs wherever she imagined them, but it did help her focus for more precise tasks such as this one.

Taking a calming breath, Weiss sent a pulse of aura down her arm and through the Ice Dust in her bracer. Instead of forming an icy projectile like she normally would, Weiss created a bolt of pure cold that struck the bags, forming an icy slick over them without it spreading across the floor.

“There, that should keep them chilled for long enough. Now, have you two decided what you’re having?” Concealing her weapon beneath her cloak, Weiss returned to the counter where Rowan stood, having watched the proceedings with bemused interest.

“But Weeeeiiiiiss, there’s just too much to choose from!” Ruby whined, pouting adorably as she did so. Looking up at the menu, there were indeed a lot of options to choose from, including a create your own sundae option.

“Why not try the strawberry swirl? You like strawberries, don’t you?” Weiss suggested, her eyes alighting on the description. “And it has marshmallow swirled into it as well.” To Weiss it sounded like a horrifyingly sugary concoction, exactly the sort of thing Ruby loved.

“That does sound pretty good…” Ruby mused, reading the description as well. “Ooh, it has a strawberry shortcake for a base?!” Eagerly, she spun to face Weiss, bouncing excitedly on the spot. “That one! I’m having the strawberry swirl!”

“One strawberry swirl, please.” Weiss instructed Rowan, who got to work assembling the sugary monstrosity whilst Neo was still making her decision.

_ ‘I don’t know what to have, I really like that one with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, but the bubblegum surprise looks really good,’  _ She explained to Weiss as she continued to look at the menu, frowning a little as she read the description.  _ ‘Wait, why isn’t there bubblegum ice cream in the bubblegum surprise?’ _

“Excuse me, she wants to know why there isn’t any bubblegum flavour ice cream in the bubblegum surprise sundae.” Weiss translated for Neo as Rowan drizzled strawberry sauce over Ruby’s ice cream.

“Oh, that’s because the surprise is that there’s no bubblegum.” Weiss and Neo blinked, nonplussed by the ridiculousness of it. But they weren’t wrong, it was a surprise.

_ ‘Can I just design my own?’  _ Neo pointed up at the menu option and Weiss rolled her eyes, already anticipating how excessive Neo’s creation would be. Still, she nodded in agreement and watched as the gleeful girl started pointing out various flavours and toppings to Rowan, who had just finished Ruby’s strawberry swirl.

It took several minutes for Neo’s order to be filled and in the end it had seven different flavours of ice cream and twelve different toppings, none of which even vaguely resembled something healthy. It was also very expensive for a bowl of ice cream, but Weiss had promised, and the wide smile on Neo’s face made the expense worth it.

As she fiddled with her wallet in order to extract the necessary Lien, there was a small tap on her elbow and she turned to see both Ruby and Neo looking at her expectantly.

“Aren’t you getting anything, Weiss?” Ruby asked, cocking her head in confusion.

“No, I’m fine not having anything.” Weiss reassured her girlfriend, pulling out the Lien to pay for Ruby and Neo whilst the pair looked at her in shock, unable to comprehend the idea of someone not wanting ice cream when it was offered.

“But why?” Struggling to wrap her head around it, Ruby looked to Neo for help and only received a shrug of bafflement.

“I’m not a sugar freak like the pair of you, and besides, I don’t know if I’ll like it or not.”

_ ‘How can you not know unless…’  _ Neo’s expression became horrified and she gazed up at Weiss who shuffled uncomfortably under her gaze, flushing with embarrassment.  _ ‘Weiss, have you never had ice cream before?’ _

“Jacques doesn’t like desserts or any kind of sweets, and we all ate what he decided.” Weiss explained quietly, hoping that Rowan couldn’t hear her. Both Neo and Ruby’s jaws dropped and they exchanged looks.

_ ‘We cannot let this stand!’  _ Neo signed furiously, then quickly pulled out her scroll when Ruby looked at her in confusion. ‘We’re getting Weiss her first ice cream and we aren’t taking no for an answer. 😈’

“Yeah! Weiss, what do you want to try?” Ruby grabbed Weiss’ arm and hauled her in front of the displayed ice cream, Neo skipping over as well. “They’ve got all sorts of fruity ones, chocolate ones, ooh that one’s chocolate swirled with caramel.” Pointing out the various flavours with an excitement that was normally only reserved for weapons, Ruby’s grinn faltered a little and the small scowl of discontent on Weiss’ face. “What’s wrong, Princess?”

“I told you, I’m fine.” Weiss insisted, eyes sweeping over the display without paying much attention to it. “I don’t really like sweet things anyway.”

_ ‘You like me, don’t you? And Ruby. I’d say we’re the sweetest things this side of Remnant.’  _ Neo’s grin grew wider as Weiss elected not to dignify Neo’s comment with an answer, instead looking to Rowan.

“Just to get these two off my back, do you have anything you can recommend I try?”

“If you don’t like sweet stuff, ice cream probably isn’t for you. I guess you could try the vanilla.” They shrugged, scooping a small amount into a sample cup for Weiss and handing it to her along with a tiny plastic spoon. Weiss did quite like the taste of vanilla, it being Neo’s scent and lip gloss flavour of choice, but she was rather sceptical of how it would taste with the cream and the probably excessive amount of sugar.

Taking a small spoonful, Weiss raised it to her lips and took a dainty bite, trying not to take too much in case she didn’t like it. It certainly was sweet, sweeter than most things Weiss enjoyed eating, but it wasn’t cloying like she’d expected. She particularly enjoyed how it melted over her tongue and the richness of the flavour it imparted.

“It’s actually not bad.” She commented, taking another spoonful. “A lot better than I thought it would be.” Ruby and Neo flashed each other matching grins of triumph and turned back to Rowan.

“Can we have three scoops of vanilla too, please.” Ruby chirped happily, quickly pulling out her money and handing it over before Weiss could stop her.

“Ruby, I’m buying the ice creams.” Weiss protested, dropping the sample cup onto the counter and pulling out her wallet again.

“You’re paying for  _ our _ ice creams, not yours. And you’ve already bought me lots of things, so let me buy you this.” Ruby stated firmly, clearly unwilling to budge on the subject.

“Fine…” Weiss grumbled a little but pulled out her Lien and handed it to Rowan as they passed her the bowl of vanilla ice cream. Sweet treats acquired, the three made their way over to the round table by the window where they’d deposited their shopping.

The moment Ruby and Neo seated themselves, they began to attack their sundaes with gusto, shovelling larger than strictly necessary spoonfuls into their mouths. By comparison, Weiss ate in a far more measured manner, taking her time to enjoy this new tasting experience.

“Don’t either of you two want to savour it?” Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriends’ almost feral eating habits.

“But it’s soooo goood!” Ruby moaned around a mouthful of strawberry shortcake, spraying some of it across the table.

“Can you both please just, slow down a little, so we can talk for a bit? Enjoy ourselves?”

“Okay, sure…” Ruby mumbled, lowering her spoon as Neo did the same, a slightly pensive look on her face.

‘Does this count as a double date? 🤔’ Ruby choked on air at Neo’s question as Weiss blinked in surprise. ‘I mean, we’re pretty much two couples and this is pretty date-like.’ As if to prove her point, Neo reached out with her spoon and took some of Weiss’ ice cream for herself. 

“I’m pretty sure double dates traditionally involve four people rather than just three.” Weiss pointed out, frowning a little at Neo’s theft of her ice cream. “And I don’t know if we should really classify this as a date.” Glancing over at Ruby, Weiss noticed her other girlfriend looked a little uncomfortable about the conversation, stirring her spoon in her sundae as she gazed into it.

‘It was just a thought.’ Neo shrugged and continued to eat her ice cream. Ruby meanwhile continued to stir her sundae around. Weiss briefly considered asking her what was wrong, but she suspected if Neo were present she wouldn’t admit to anything. Thinking quickly, Weiss deliberately spilled some of her ice cream down her front. The things she did for love.

“Ack!” She squawked theatrically as the ice cream started to soak into her shirt. “Neo, could you get me some napkins please? And some water?” Nodding, Neo got up and made for the counter leaving Weiss and Ruby alone. Ruby was about to get up to help too when Weiss grabbed her wrist gently to hold her back.

“Ruby, is everything okay?” She asked quietly, guiding Ruby back into her seat. “You seemed kind of upset just then. And whilst we were shopping too, you were behaving very strangely around Neo, and she’s noticed too.” A brief look of fear crossed Ruby’s face before it twisted into an awkward and confused frown.

“I… No, things aren’t okay. I have no idea how I’m supposed to act around Neo. Is there some kind of etiquette when it comes to metamours? I don’t know, and neither did Nora when I asked her.” Ruby confessed, shooting a surreptitious glance over at Neo, who seemed to be having a little trouble with getting Rowan to give her some napkins.

“I imagine it’s the same as how you act with your other friends.” Weiss shrugged, unsure herself of the answer.

“Is it though? Like, I know we aren’t rivals or anything like that but it still feels kind of awkward and I don’t know why.”

“Ruby if you feel this bad about it, we can always put a pause on things, or even call it off.” Weiss was loathe to suggest it, and was secretly relieved when Ruby shook her head.

“No, no. You don’t need to do that.  _ We  _ don’t need to do that. It was just easier to avoid Neo than deal with my feelings or talk about them.”

“Then maybe you should try to spend some time with her?” Weiss suggested, pausing to eat some more of her slowly melting ice cream. “Neo really would like to be your friend.”

“Does she?” Ruby raised an eyebrow at Weiss. “You saw how affectionate she was at the store and I’m not quite comfortable with her being like that. I told her, I’m not really interested in dating her right now.”

“I’ve talked to her, she’s working on it. Although really you should both be talking to each other, not me.”

“You’re right…” Ruby mumbled around a mouthful of her sundae. “I don’t really know where to start, especially since I’ve been avoiding her.”

“Ren’s been teaching you how to sign, right?” Ruby nodded, head cocked in confusion. “Well, why don’t you ask Neo to teach you? She taught me pretty well, poorly thought out pranks regarding her hotness aside.”

“I guess I could…”

“There’s your solution, then. And you can see how things go from there, especially if you talk to her about things and don’t just avoid them.” A frown crossed Ruby’s face as she regarded Weiss with an odd expression.

“Speaking of avoiding things.” She began, starting to grow in confidence as she continued. “You’ve been avoiding me a little as well.” Weiss’ heart froze, it didn’t take a genius to work out what was coming next.

“Every time I try to bring up what you mentioned about killing someone, you deflect and change the subject, or excuse yourself from the conversation.” Fixing Weiss with a look that was both concerned and accusatory, Ruby did not look like she was going to let things slide this time.

“Weiss, you promised that we’d talk about it, but we haven’t, and we need to.”

“I know, I know. It’s… not exactly an easy conversation or one I’ve been looking forward to.”

“But we still need to talk about it.” Ruby insisted firmly.

“Can we please not do it right this second? Not whilst we’re in public and enjoying ourselves.” Ruby’s eyes narrowed.

“Weiss, I just said you’ve been deflecting, and that’s what you’re doing now.”

“Ruby I swear I’m not, I just don’t think now is the best time for it. When we get home, I promise, we’ll talk then, no more excuses.” Ruby glared at Weiss for a moment, then relaxed a little.

“I’m holding you to that.” Ruby told her girlfriend as Neo trotted back up to the table, a wad of wetted napkins clutched in her hands.

“Thanks, Neo.” Weiss took the proffered napkins and dabbed at the stain on her shirt whilst Neo sat back down.

“Um… Neo…” Looking up from her sundae, Neo cocked her head at Ruby’s hesitant tone. “I was wondering, would you mind teaching me how to sign? Then you don’t have to keep getting out your scroll when I can’t understand everything you’re saying.”

A wide grin split Neo’s face and she nodded emphatically, pulling out her scroll. ‘Of course! 😁😁 I’d be happy to teach you.’

Satisfied things were now starting to work out between her two girlfriends, Weiss’ mind turned to her upcoming conversation with Ruby, and to how Ruby would never be able to look at her the same way again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More fun date-like shenanigans, though it seems Weiss is headed for an awkward conversation with Ruby. The plot is going to catch up with everyone in a little while, but quite frankly, these girls deserve a bit of a break and some time to settle into their relationship, before I pull the rug out from underneath them.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and believing in me. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend[Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and helping me get plot points in order.


	50. Chapter 50

It was midafternoon when the trio returned to the house, laden with shopping bags and bellies full of ice cream. They found Ren waiting for them in the downstairs living room, flipping idly through a book whilst Nora had draped herself over his lap.

“Were you able to find everything?” He asked, gently sliding Nora off him so he could stand up, though not without a small noise of displeasure from her.

“Yes, we were.” Weiss answered, placing her bags onto the low coffee table for Ren to inspect, Ruby and Neo doing the same. Looking through the bags, Ren paused, then looked to the three suspiciously.

“Why are some of the groceries encased in a block of ice?” He asked, pulling out a packet that was completely coated in ice.

“We stopped to have some ice cream and I froze them so they wouldn’t defrost before we got back.” Weiss grinned sheepishly, as Neo snickered silently beside her.

“They certainly haven’t defrosted.” Ren admitted, looking through the rest of the bags and pulling out Neo’s half-eaten box of Tocky. “I assume this isn’t yours though.”

“ _ Someone  _ thought it was necessary to demonstrate one of the uses of those things.” Weiss shot a cool glare at Neo, who whistled innocently. “Anyway, it should all be there. Here’s the receipt and your change, plus enough to cover those.” Handing over the money and receipt, Weiss took the half empty packet of Tocky and passed it to the eagerly awaiting Neo.

_ ‘Can we do the thing with the Tocky now? You liked the ice cream, maybe you’ll like this.’  _ Neo suggested impishly after she tucked the box away.

“Neo!” Weiss glanced over at Nora and Ren, who were both watching with interest. “They can understand you when you sign.”

_ ‘I know’ _

“Weiss, what does she mean by the thing with the Tocky? I wanna know!” Nora called out, rolling upright to grin cheekily up at the group. “Tell meeeee!”

“Neo, don’t you dare.” Weiss instructed her girlfriend before her hands could form any signs. “Or I’ll take those back from you.”

_ ‘You wouldn’t dare.’ _

“Try me.” Weiss smirked dangerously and Neo wisely didn’t press the issue, electing to eat one of her sticks of Tocky instead. “That’s what I thought.”

“Booooooo! Just when I thought you were fun, Weiss.” Nora complained, flopping back onto the sofa in mock disgust. “I thought you dating two girls would loosen you up a bit.”

“Would she really be Weiss if she did ‘loosen up’?” Ren intoned, continuing to unpack the and inspect the groceries, a hint of a smile playing across his lips.

“Of course she would be!” Ruby piped up, looking pointedly at Weiss. “No matter how she changes or what she does, she’ll always be our Weiss.”

Weiss couldn’t help but wince a little at Ruby’s unflinching support, knowing exactly how little she deserved it. Nobody seemed to notice though, as Ren and Nora smiled indulgently at Ruby.

“If you say so, Ruby. I should start putting these away. Nora, can you lend a hand?”

“I don’t know, can I?” Nora grinned evilly up at her boyfriend, who let out an exasperated sigh.

“ _ Will  _ you lend me a hand in putting these groceries away?”

“Of course, Renny! Ooh, why don’t I grab Jaune and we make it a team thing?”

“We don’t really need Jaune’s help, I think the two of us will have it covered.” Ren cocked his head in confusion.

“ _ Ren,  _ I think it would be a great idea for Jaune to help us. We can chat and stuff.” Nora flicked her eyes at Weiss and jerked her head meaningfully at Ren.

“Yes! Team things are always good!” Weiss swore silently in her head at how stilted she still sounded when improvising but persevered anyway. “In fact, why don’t we do a team thing as well, Ruby?”

“But Weiss, we have that thing we were going to talk about, remember?” Ruby narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Weiss, who suddenly realised the implications of her suggestion.

“Yes! We do. I meant after that?” Weiss looked helplessly over at Nora, silently begging her to save her from this awkwardness. Thankfully, Nora seemed to have picked up at least some social cues since Beacon, as she spoke up loudly.

“I’m gonna go get Jaune, then! You two have fun with your talk!” And she marched off in search of the blonde boy, leaving a slightly baffled Ren in her wake. Weiss took the opportunity the distraction afforded to seize Ruby’s wrist and haul her away towards the stairs, calling over her shoulder.

“We’ll see you later!” Weiss ignored Ren’s response, too focused on getting Ruby upstairs. As they ascended the stairs, Weiss heard footsteps behind them and turned back to see an unsure Neo hovering there.

“Neo, do you think you could leave us alone for a bit? I’d rather have this conversation be just me and Ruby.” Neo frowned and looked very reluctant to be left out of whatever was happening. “I’ll make it up to you later. Please?”

After a moment’s pause, Neo nodded and trotted back downstairs leaving Weiss to breathe a sigh of relief and pull Ruby up to the top of the stairs, where she paused to explain.

“Ruby, I swear I wasn’t just trying to wriggle out of this conversation again.”

“Seemed an awful lot like it.” Frowning at Weiss, Ruby crossed her arms and huffed in mild irritation. “Weiss, you promised that we’d talk about this, but you’ve been doing everything you can to avoid it.”

“I know, I know. But that’s not what I was trying to do when I suggested we do a team thing.” Weiss explained frantically. “I was trying to help Nora convince Ren to invite Jaune to do something with them.”

“What? But why?”

“It’s not important right now.” Weiss tried to deflect. It was odd trying to pull Ruby back to a conversation she’d been dreading.

“Surely you can take a minute to explain.” Ignoring Weiss’ pleading expression, Ruby held firm, waiting for an answer.

“Okay, fine. Nora and I are worried about Jaune. He’s been pulling away from them, so I suggested they push a little to get him to open up.” Ruby’s suspicious expression evened out into one of sympathy and understanding.

“I did notice he was off during the journey here, but I never noticed it had gotten worse recently.” Ruby’s expression dropped into a frown, her hand reaching up to clasp her bicep in that habitual way they all did. “I should have paid more attention.”

“You’ve been busy with your own life, Liebling.” Weiss reassured her, reaching out to rest a hand on her girlfriend’s. “You’ve been processing us and how our relationship works now.”

“I still feel responsible for him.” Ruby murmured. “I’m always going to be team RWBY, but I was his team leader for months.”

“Ruby, it’s okay. Jaune’s got Nora and Ren and everyone else, you don’t have to take on all that responsibility.”

“I know…” Ruby still looked rather upset about her oversight so Weiss fell back on her standard method of comforting people. She stepped in and pulled Ruby into a hug, wrapping her wings around her like she always did, both Ruby and Neo were very fond of them.

“I promise this isn’t me trying to avoid it, but we can always talk later if you’re not feeling up to it.”

“No, no. I’m fine.” Ruby coughed awkwardly as she extracted herself from the hug. “Our room?” Leading the way, Ruby opened the door to the room, waiting for Weiss to enter before closing the door behind them and settling on one of the desk chairs whilst Weiss sat on the bed and began picking at her nails.

“You told me that was a bad habit and I’d ruin my nails if I kept doing it.” Ruby spoke gently, hand twitching as though she wanted to hold Weiss’ hand, but she refrained from doing so.

“And you would have if I hadn’t stopped you.” Weiss rebutted, though she acquiesced and ceased her nervous fiddling, opting instead to fist her hands in the bed sheets. Silence fell between them as Weiss struggled for what she should say next, something she was saved from by Ruby speaking up.

“Weiss… You said you killed someone.”

“I did. Two people.” The Faunus corrected quietly, guilt flooding her chest. This felt so much worse than when she’d talked to Ghira the day before she’d left Menagerie, and she’d barely even started.

“Who?”

“Do… Do you remember the White Fang brute I told you about? The one I fought on the train?” Ruby nodded slowly. “He survived the crash. He stalked us, got photos of our date and enough information to prove I’m a Faunus.”

“Weiss…” Ruby sounded pained, but Weiss ploughed on.

“A few weeks before the festival, he sent a message asking me to meet him alone, threatening to expose me if I didn’t.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were busy with Penny, and there wasn’t time.” Guilt still bubbled painfully in Weiss’ chest, though she tried to suppress it with the knowledge that it had been a necessary evil. “When I met with him, he tried to blackmail me into joining the White Fang, or he’d expose me.”

“So that’s why you killed him?”

“No, That wasn’t the reason…” Weiss gripped harder at the bedding. “I was willing to let him tell everyone about me, I wasn’t about to betray everyone. But then he threatened you.”

“... What?”

“He said if I didn’t join, he’d have the entire White Fang come after you. I couldn’t let you get hurt, I just couldn’t. So I agreed to his terms, then I stabbed him in the back.”

When Ruby didn’t answer immediately, Weiss hung her head in shame. She knew this would be how they would end. There was no way Ruby would ever be okay with Weiss killing, and especially not for her sake.

“I burned the body to ash and dumped it in the harbour. There’s no evidence, nothing tying me to his disappearance and I doubt there was much of an investigation there even was one.” Still Ruby remained silent and Weiss didn’t dare look up for fear of seeing her look of disappointment. 

The silence stretched on and finally Weiss dared to look up. Ruby’s face was impassive, giving away no hint, though Weiss could almost hear the gears turning in her head. “Ruby? Say something? Please?”

Silence, then a small voice. “You said you did what you had to do.”

“To keep the people I love safe.” Weiss confirmed quietly, looking away again and bracing herself for the admonitions. That no reason justified killing someone, no matter how necessary Weiss believed it to be.

“And the other person? Who were you keeping safe then?”

“I… I wasn’t.” Weiss admitted, even more shame filling her as her flimsy justification fell apart. “The caravan I was travelling with across Sanus was attacked by bandits. We were betrayed by one of the guards and… he killed a friend of mine.” There was a small intake of breath from Ruby, but Weiss kept going, the words spilling out.

“I had him at gunpoint, he was surrendering, but I didn’t care. He killed Lazuli, that was all there was to it.”

“Weiss…”

“And he deserved it. He was almost certainly going to leave us stranded in the woods to die, or even execute us all. He deserved to die, just like Cinder does.”

“What?” Ruby looked lost for words at this confession and Weiss sighed deeply as she proceeded to add the final nail to her coffin.

“Neo and I started working together because we both planned to kill Cinder, and we still do.”

“Weiss, we’re supposed to be the good guys. Sometimes we might people by accident but we don’t plan to murder people.”

“This… This isn’t murder, it’s justice.” Weiss tried to harden her tone, but found she couldn’t not with Ruby. “I take no joy or pleasure in it. But Cinder Fall is both too dangerous to let live and deserves punishment for her crimes.”

“Punishment, yes, but execution?” Ruby looked deeply conflicted about the topic as she tried to wrap her head around it. “Weiss, we don’t get to decide that. We  _ shouldn’t _ .”

“I’m sorry, Ruby. But I’m not going to change my mind on this, and Neo certainly won’t. She blames Cinder for Roman’s death.” Weiss sighed deeply, unsure of what she could say, if there was anything she could say.

“Then why are you so adamant?” Weiss didn’t answer at first and when she spoke, it was barely above a whisper.

“4,306.” She looked up at Ruby, meeting her gaze as evenly as she could. “When I left Vale that was the official death toll of The Fall. All of them died because of that madwoman’s lust for power and this Salem’s hatred of humanity. Don’t they deserve justice? Don’t Penny and Pyrrha?” As she spoke, Weiss’ voice rose in volume, filling with righteous fury.

“Is it really justice?” Ruby asked calmly, though her voice was tight. “Or is it vengeance?”

“Of course it’s justice.” Weiss insisted, ignoring the slight stab of doubt in the back of her mind. “And even if it wasn’t, I already said, Cinder is far too dangerous to be left alive.”

“I… I can’t really disagree.” Ruby admitted somewhat reluctantly. “But… I still don’t think it’s right for us to just kill her.”

“Not us, Ruby. Just me and Neo, I don’t want you tainted by this. It’s why I never told you about the man from the White Fang. You’re the best of us, Ruby, and you shouldn’t be sullied with this.”

“Weiss, we’re in this together, always.” Ruby finally broke and reached out to take Weiss’ hand. “I… I don’t really know what to think about this. I love you, Weiss, and this doesn’t change that at all, but I just don’t know.”

“I’m sorry I put you in this position, Ruby.” The brunette shook her head.

“Don’t be, please. But, if you and Neo really are going to go through with this, you need to know something about Maidens.”

“Something else Ozpin neglected to tell us?” A slightly bitter edge entered Weiss’ voice.

“Not exactly. I meant to explain, but I got caught up with the whole you-me-and-Neo situation.” Ruby took a deep breath. “Maiden powers will pass to the last person in a dying Maiden’s thoughts, provided they’re eligible. And according to uncle Qrow, that person would usually be…”

“Whoever killed them.” Weiss finished, gears already starting to turn in her head. If Maiden powers passed on like that, then if they could kill Cinder, then there was a good chance they could reclaim the powers for their side, rather than leave them in the hands of Salem.

“Weiss, I know what you’re thinking. Please don’t forget, she has magic, and she killed Pyrrha.” Ruby looked away for a moment, swiping at her eyes. “I know you already wanted this, but I’m scared. If you do this, she might kill you too.”

“I know, but I’ve got Neo watching my back, and you and Yang and everyone else. I can’t promise I’ll be safe, but now more than ever, if we kill Cinder, that’s a powerful blow against our enemies.”

“I thought you’d say that.” Ruby admitted quietly. “Can… Can we cuddle for a while? Please?” Nodding, Weiss kicked off her shoes to lay back on the bed as Ruby did the same and crawled on top of her, nuzzling into her embrace.

“I love you, Weiss.” Ruby murmured softly.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last the conversation is had and of course Ruby is still there for Weiss, even if she's doesn't exactly agree with what she's planning on doing. Honestly, this was a really hard chapter to write, lots of difficult questions to answer with differing character thoughts on the matter. Still, the plot grows inexorably closer as does the end of this part of the story and it's gonna be so fun.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being such a cutie. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend[Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being my prince.


	51. Chapter 51

“Yang? Ruby sent me to remind you we’re going in half an hour.” Weiss called through the closed bedroom door, only to receive no answer. It had been a couple of weeks since Weiss and Ruby’s conversation and things had started to settle down. Except for Weiss of course.

Armed with her new information, she knew it was more important now than ever to find Cinder and bring her to justice. When she’d told Neo, however, the pastel girl had expressed some doubt in part of Weiss’ plan, namely the succession of the Maiden. Neo believed that Cinder wouldn’t be so stupid as not to have a fallback in case something happened to her and, as Neo pointed out, Cinder already had a viable successor in Emerald.

Naturally, that led to the question of what they’d do if the powers were transferred to Emerald, a question that Weiss didn’t quite know the answer to. Her planning was, however, interrupted by Qrow finally getting them all the hunter-in-training licenses he’d promised. All of them except Neo, that is. As it turned out, Neo had outstanding warrants for her arrest in all the kingdoms. Most were a couple of years old but it would be enough to draw the authorities’ attention.

With the newly acquired licenses, they were now able to take on certain low level missions with the supervision of a fully licensed hunter, also known as Qrow. JNR had been out a couple of days ago and now it was RWYN’s turn, hence why Weiss was standing outside Yang’s bedroom, knocking loudly.

After another minute of solid knocking, Weiss gave up and opened the door to see Yang sitting at the desk, hunched over and bobbing her head. As Weiss approached the blonde, she noticed the distinctive red of Ruby’s headphones fixed firmly over Yang’s ears, and that Yang’s prosthetic wasn’t in place. She soon found out where it was, as she came right up behind Yang and saw that she was fiddling with the arm’s innards.

“Yang?” Weiss lightly tapped the blonde on her shoulder and stepped back quickly as she flailed in shock, pulling off the headphones and looking around for her attacker.

“Weiss?!” She squawked once she finished with her wild arm waving. “Why didn’t you knock?”

“I did, several times.” Weiss deadpanned, a wry smile playing across her face as she gestured at the headphones around Yang’s neck.

“Oh yeah…” Yang rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and removed the headphones and set them on the desk. “They’re pretty effective at shutting out background noise.”

“I could tell.”

“So what did you want, Weiss?” Returning to her arm, Yang continued her fiddling with a small screwdriver.

“We’re heading out on our mission in twenty-seven minutes.” Weiss smirked in amusement as Yang swore quietly and checked her scroll to confirm.

“Damnit, I lost track of time. Got too into this.” She gestured at her arm, Weiss getting in close to have a better look.

“What exactly are you doing?”

“You remember I told you I wanted to find out how much stress this thing could take?” Weiss nodded, recalling the first morning at the house when she’d confessed to Yang about Blake. “Well, Rubes helped me run a couple of tests and we’re pretty sure we’ve worked out the upper limit of what the materials can take. We didn’t want to push it too far, just in case we broke it too badly for me to fix it.”

“So what does that mean?” Weiss cocked her head, not quite understanding everything, but finding it fascinating nonetheless.

“It means I can fiddle with how much force the servos exert so it can lift more and hit harder.” Yang explained, pointing with her screwdriver at a couple of components. “Aura only shields us on the outside, it does nothing to prevent stress fractures or putting too much force into a punch. The body can only take so much, but metal,” she tapped the arm for emphasis. “can take a lot more punishment.”

“I never knew you were so mechanically minded.” Weiss admitted as Yang returned to her work, unscrewing a panel and peering inside. “I always figured that it was Ruby who was the mechanic of the family, what with her weapon fixation.”

“I forged Ember Celica on my own when I was thirteen, I’ve owned my bike and maintained it since I was sixteen.” Yang chuckled as she reached over to a small pile of tools on the desk and pulled out a small cable, connecting it to the arm. “I’m pretty good with mechanics and weapons already. Electronics and robotics, however, took some learning. But as it turns out, you get a lot of free time on your hand when recuperating from losing a limb and there was no way I’m trusting this with my life unless I knew exactly how it worked and how to fix it.”

Weiss watched as Yang plugged her scroll into the other end of the cable and began flipping through various interfaces with a deftness that told Weiss Yang had learned more than just electronics. Weiss had seen the right-handed Yang on several occasions perform actions with her left with an incredible amount of skill and delicacy that spoke of a lot of practice.

“I’m no expert, but I know my way around my arm well enough by now that if I do this...” Yang tapped on her scroll and moved a slider up. “That should increase the threshold on the limiter on the servos in the elbow joint.” Yang detached the cable from her arm and started replacing the pieces, screwing them back into place.

“I can do the fingers later to increase my grip strength, but we’re on a tight schedule, so they’ll have to wait.” with a couple of clicks, Yang replaced the outer casing. Once she was sure it was firmly locked together again, she picked it up and snapped it onto herself, letting out a soft hiss of pain as it did so.

“I’m never going to get used to that.” She muttered, testing out the arm’s mobility and function before standing up and almost effortlessly lifting one end of the bed with just her right arm. “Hmmm, may need some tweaking, it’s a little harder to control the fine motions with the limiter set higher. I may have to hold off on the fingers until I’m completely sure, wouldn’t want to accidentally crush more things because I don’t know my own strength.”

“More things?”

“Yeah, when I started using this arm I wasn’t quite so good at delicate tasks with it. No nerves, y’know, just some pressure sensors, and they take some getting used to. I must have shattered at least two dozen glasses at Dad’s place when I was practicing.”

Weiss inhaled sharply at the idea of all that broken glass. “I bet he was pleased when you got used to the fine motor control.”

“I think he was just glad I was using the thing rather than just moping around the house like I had done for the last couple of months.” A guilty frown crossed Yang’s face as she lowered the bed to the floor. “After I got the arm, I refused to even put it on for a couple of weeks, too busy feeling sorry for myself.”

“That’s behind you though. You’re better now, right?”

“Yeah, yeah… This is the new normal.” Yang murmured, flexing her arm as she continued to test the joints. “Anyway, let me just get my stuff together and we can head out.” Nodding in agreement, Weiss settled on the bed, setting Penny Dreadful aside so she could sit more comfortably as Yang collected the pieces of her combat outfit from around the room.

“Been a while since we’ve been out as a team like this.” She commented as she buckled up her jacket’s collar and zipped it up. Weiss noted that it did nothing to cover up her abs, definitely a deliberate decision on Yang’s part, the show off.

“It has, hasn’t it?” Weiss agreed as Yang pulled a glove over her left hand before slipping Ember Celica on and activating it to check the mechanism was functioning properly. “Are you going to be okay with Neo? As a battle partner, I mean. If you want, I can team up with Neo and you and Ruby can partner up.”

“I’ll be fine. Since Neo’s gonna be sticking around for the foreseeable future, we should learn how to fight together.” Yang retracted her gauntlet back into its inert form and dropped back into her desk chair to pull on her boots.

“If you’re sure…” Weiss stood up, clipping her weapon back to her belt as Yang did the same, flexing her ankles and stretching out. “Ready?”

“Almost, one last thing.” Walking over to the chest of drawers in the corner, Yang carefully picked up a piece of purple fabric and tied it tightly around her leg just above her boot. It looked oddly familiar, despite how it clashed with Yang’s usual colour scheme.

“That doesn’t really match your usual style, where’d you get it?” Yand paused before she could finish the knot, her eyes fixed firmly on the fabric as her face flushed a little.

“I got it at the Vytal festival, it… it was a gift from Blake.”

Oh. Weiss remembered now. The day she’d gotten her and Ruby’s rings, Blake got her that bandana in return for a necklace, a necklace that, now that Weiss thought about it, she hadn’t seen Blake wear whilst they were together on Menagerie. “Y-You kept it?”

“It… um… It was the last thing I grabbed from the dorm room before I left.” Yang ran her fingers over the fabric absently. “Didn’t know I’d never be able to go back there when I grabbed it. Not sure why, but I’m glad I did now.”

“Now?”

“After Blake left… I wanted to get rid of it. It was a reminder of a broken promise. But I just couldn’t bring myself to actually do it.” Yang straightened up, still frowning. “Weiss, I… I’m kinda nervous. The White Fang attack is only a couple of months away and Blake will be here soon.”

Weiss hated that she was now becoming rather familiar with this version of Yang, this insecure and unsure shadow of the confident girl she once knew.

“What if they don’t want to see me? Or-” Yang’s spiral was suddenly halted by Weiss pulling her into a tight hug before she could overwhelm herself.

“Yang, I promise, Blake will want to see you and everything’s going to be okay.” The blonde let out a weak chuckle, pulling gently out of Weiss’ embrace.

“Thanks, Weiss.” She shook herself out and breathed hard, psyching herself up. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” An enthusiastic smile grew on her face as she looked back to Weiss.

“Let’s go hunt some Grimm.”

* * *

“Baked Atlaska!” Neo and Yang weren’t as practised with each other as they might be with their other teammates, but they moved quickly into position. Neo closed up Hush and flipped it over to hold it by the closed canopy as several Ursas bore down upon her. With a cocky grin, Yang fired off one of her incendiary rounds at Neo whilst Weiss prayed the maneuver would work, practice was very different to out in the field.

Weiss’ worries turned out to be unfounded as Neo caught the fiery blast with the crook of Hush, directing the resulting explosion in a wave of fire at the approaching Grimm and searing through the nearest ones, neatly bisecting them.

Smirking gleefully, Neo flipped Huch back around, extending the blade and ramming it into another Ursa’s maw. Weiss was torn away from watching Neo by a loud roar behind her and she ducked just in time for a large paw swung at her head. Spinning low, Weiss slammed her fist into the beast and channelled a pulse of aura down her arm and through Lilie, freezing the Ursa solid.

“Damnit, Mini Ice Queen!” Qrow hollered from nearby as he efficiently disemboweled another Ursa with his sword. “Keep your eyes on the fight and not on your girlfriend!”

“I told you to stop calling me that!” Weiss yelled back, hurling a spike of ice at another Ursa that had somehow snuck up behind Weiss whilst he was berating her. Qrow opened his mouth to snipe back but their argument was interrupted by a loud shout.

“Will you two focus, please!?”

“Sorry, Ruby.” Weiss spun deftly to the side as yet another Ursa charged at her, slicing along its side as it barrelled past. Weiss had never seen so many Ursa together in one place, they were normally solitary or would travel in pairs. Clearly something was wrong, maybe Salem’s influence, maybe the lack of hunters in Mistral to control the Grimm’s numbers. Whatever the reason, it made for a harder battle than expected combining the two worst aspects of fighting Beowolves and Ursa.

Beowolves weren’t so tough if they weren’t Alphas, but they more than made up for it in numbers, whilst Ursa were tough, but were easy enough to deal with on their own.

“Weiss, Earthquake!” Weiss was already spinning her gauntlet to Earth Dust before Ruby finished calling out the order and preparing to smash her fist into the ground.

“Jump!” Trusting her teammates heard her instruction, Weiss brought her fist down into the ground, channelling her aura into it and cajoling the hard earth to ripple out from her. All the Ursa were knocked off their feet by the wave of rock and dirt that radiated out from Weiss whilst the hunters remained upright as they came back down to Earth.

“Strawberry Shortcake!” As the Ursa started to get to their feet, Neo darted over to Ruby, leaping up to land feet first on the blade of Crescent Rose. With a loud bang, Ruby hurled Neo towards the nearest Ursa that had regained its feet. The beast roared in defiance and brought a massive paw crashing down into Neo, only for the pastel girl to shatter into a million pieces, revealing Ruby just behind it, swinging Crescent Rose around in a powerful arc that caught the Ursa around the middle and launched back towards where Neo was waiting, having never been launched in the first place.

With no way to control its flight, the Grimm could only flail helplessly as Neo flipped elegantly up into the air and landed on the flying beast’s back, blade first. The two came crashing down to the ground, Neo flipping off the dissolving corpse and righting herself with a small bow.

“Flashfire!” That was Weiss’ cue, pulling her away from yet again getting distracted by watching her girlfriend fight. Flicking her wrist again, this time to Lightning Dust, Weiss raised her hand as she looked to Yang, awaiting her signal. A brief nod accompanied by a wide grin and Weiss summoned a glyph beneath the blonde, the clock-like sigil spinning into existence, its hands starting to turn faster and faster until they were a blur then the glyph burst apart, infusing Yang with the energy.

Weiss knew from her brief experiences using time dilation on herself just how exhilarating it was. Yang took off like a rocket, trailing fire behind her as she darted from Ursa to Ursa, shattering limbs and leaving destruction and wild laughter in her wake. Leaving Yang to her fiery rampage, Weiss went after a couple of stragglers, burning away their thick hides with Fire Dust before hacking into them with Penny Dreadful. She considered summoning her Arma Gigas to assist, but looking around, they seemed to have pretty much annihilated the pack without too much difficulty and without injury.

Suddenly there was a raspy wordless screech of pain and a distraught cry from Ruby.

“Neo!”

Weiss whirled around just in time to see Neo go sprawling to the ground and the culprit Ursa looming over Ruby, it’s paw raised for another strike. Weiss was already halfway to her partner and the beast, murder burning in her chest as she drew Penny Dreadful back to hack at the Grimm, not caring that it would have minimal effect.

Before she could enact her plan, however, a large blade emerged from the center of the Ursa’s chest before it was unceremoniously kicked off the weapon by Qrow. The immediate danger dealt with, Ruby rushed over to Neo’s crumpled form, dropping to her knees beside her.

“Yang! You and I will deal with the last of them.” Qrow told the blonde, taking charge of the situation whilst Ruby was tending to Neo, Weiss skidding to a halt and dropping down beside her girlfriend.

“Neo? Neo can you hear me?!” Ruby asked frantically, checking over the pastel girl as her eyes fluttered and she flailed weakly with her arms.

“What happened?” Weiss joined Ruby in the inspection of Neo. Her aura didn’t appear to be broken but she had landed pretty hard.

“I don’t really know. I was shooting a couple of Ursa that were fleeing, then I heard the roar behind me, but when I turned around, Neo was already there and took the hit for me.” The words tumbled out of Ruby’s mouth, almost too fast for Weiss to understand, guilt lacing her voice. She tried to pull back one of Neo’s eyelids, but her hand got weakly slapped away by the girl, who was just about able to sit up.

_ ‘Get off, I’m fine!’ _

“Neo, you could have a concussion or some kind of internal injury. What were you thinking, why would you jump in front of Ruby like that?” Weiss asked, still trying to check Neo as her hands were batted away.

_ ‘It’s not as though I could have warned her to look out.’  _ Neo pointed out grumpily, as the sounds of battle finally died away and Weiss heard Qrow and Yang approach.

“She doing okay?” Qrow gravelled out, only sounding a little concerned for Neo’s well being.

“I think so, for now.” Ruby answered with a sigh of relief. “She’ll need a check up when we get back to the city, but she’s well enough to get back to the airship.”

_ ‘I could’ve told you that.’  _ Neo grumbled, though a small smile did play across her face as she accepted Weiss’ help in getting back up.

“Neo, I don’t want you doing that again.” Ruby instructed as the five hunters started back towards the edge of the forest where their ride back to civilization was waiting.

_ ‘You were going to get hurt.’ _

“And you almost did.” Ruby frowned as Neo set her jaw stubbornly. “You had no idea if that Ursa was going to shatter your aura or not.”

_ ‘I knew I could take it.’  _ Neo asserted confidently, earning sceptical noises from the other four.  _ ‘Okay, fine. But what else was I supposed to do?’ _

“Maybe we can sort that out later, some way for you to communicate better in combat.” Weiss suggested, the worry about Neo potentially getting hurt not fading away just yet.

_ ‘That would be useful.’  _ Neo admitted as she nodded in agreement.

“Well, that’s one mission down, only about thirty more to be fulfilled.” Qrow groaned and stretched out his sore muscles. “You kids did pretty well, other than that little slip up at the end. You did some good work here today.” Irritation twinged at the back of Weiss’ skull, something that had been bothering her for quite a while, but given new life since her conversation with Ruby.

“Are we really doing enough though?” The others turned to her, mild confusion in their expressions. “We know the White Fang attack is coming and we know Cinder and her lackeys are probably planning something. Why are we out here doing these small missions when we could be working to hunt down our enemies rather than waiting for them?”

“These missions need doing, Mini Ice Princess. Mistral’s hunters are all out of commission and probably dead, so we need to pick up the slack.”

“Not all of them are though, I checked the rosters.” Weiss fired back, a frown twisting its way across her face. “Surely stopping Cinder takes precedent? If the Maiden powers are so important, surely reclaiming them is critical.”

“None of you kids are ready to take on a Maiden, even one who’s pretty inexperienced like Cinder. Hell, I’d be wary of taking her on.”

“Even so, I just feel our efforts would be better spent elsewhere.” Weiss stubbornly insisted, starting to feel small flickers of anger.

“Well, Oz thinks otherwise, so we’re doing it this way.” Qrow put down firmly, his tone brokering no argument, though Weiss sorely wanted to. She was stopped, however, by Neo resting a hand on her shoulder and shaking her head a little. Reluctantly, Weiss remained silent, though her anger continued to bubble just below the surface as the group continued their trek back to the airship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, seems like the plot isn't catching up to the group as Weiss would like, she should learn to appreciate the down-time whilst she can. I am very insistent on Yang being smart and I believe it would be very much in character for her to learn about how her arm works.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so sweet. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend[Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being such a cutie~.


	52. Chapter 52

More time passed and Weiss grew more and more irked with Ozpin’s rather passive approach to the situation. True, they went out on more missions, most were exterminations but there were some different ones. A few times they’d been guarding shipments of supplies, clearing out bandits, thankfully none from the Branwen Tribe. On one occasion, they’d guarded a group of technicians as they set up a relay tower to increase CCT coverage of the continent.

Still, Weiss was certain that, for all the good they were doing, they should be focussing on the bigger picture of hunting down CInder. To that end she’d been spending more time with Neo, trying to subtly put out feelers on the Maiden’s whereabouts. Neo had been a little reluctant to reach out to some of Roman’s old criminal contacts, but she’d done it at Weiss’ request, though she’d demanded at least a dozen kisses in exchange.

Despite being busy dealing with her discreet campaign, it didn’t escape Weiss’ notice that Ruby still seemed a little off. She wasn’t avoiding Neo anymore and was fast approaching fluency in ASL in her lessons with the pastel girl, but ever since their first extermination mission, something seemed off about her. Every so often she’d vanish for hours on end, and all she’d say about it was that she was working on Crescent Rose.

Weiss didn’t think too much about it after that reassurance and had instead refocused on her and Neo’s discreet investigations. Annoyingly though, things had hit something of a dead end whilst Neo waited to hear back from her contacts. Weiss had wanted to investigate Professor Lionheart, but she’d let slip her plans at dinner, forgetting momentarily that Nora both knew ASL and still had a difficult grasp of volume control. Ozpin had very sternly forbidden Weiss from doing any kind of investigation, despite her loud protests and his own misgivings about the headmaster, citing fears of alerting him and their enemies.

Her efforts stymied for the time being, Weiss had taken to sulking in her room, practising with her summons until Neo got back to her. She’d still been unable to replicate her summoning of the fiery Arma Gigas and had no idea how she’d done it initially, but she knew she’d work it out eventually. It was during one of these sulky practice sessions that she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Sighing in resignation, Weiss dismissed her summon and opened the door to reveal an oddly awkward looking Nora.

“Yes?”

“Hey, Weiss, we’re having a game night downstairs and we’d like it if you’d join us. Everyone else is playing.” Weiss blinked silently, cocking her head.

“Thank you for the offer, Nora, but I’m busy right now.” Weiss made to close the door but was stopped by Nora wedging her foot under it.

“Weiss, it took me two hours of wheelding and cajoling to get Jaune to agree to this.” Nora looked at Weiss with an uncharacteristically serious expression. “And he only agreed to do it if we could all play. So please, for him?”

“I suppose…” Weiss spoke hesitantly and was rewarded with a tight hug, which pulled her off-balance and probably cracked a rib or two.

“Thanks, Weiss. Everyone else is downstairs setting up.” Taking Weiss by the hand, Nora dragged the Faunus along the landing hall and downstairs, where the others were sitting around the table, debating hotly.

“There’s eight of us, Jaune, and only four Kingdoms of Remnant. Also, I don’t think Weiss would approve of the Menagerie expansion.” Ruby insisted, Neo nodding fervently in agreement.

“Okay, yeah, you’re right about that expansion being incredibly tone-deaf.” Jaune conceded the point, but still seemed fixated on the idea of playing Remnant: the Game. “So we just split into four pairs, a kingdom per pair.”

_ ‘How is that fair? You’ve been boasting that you’ve been playing this game since you were a kid. Some of us were too busy learning to jack cars to play board games.’  _ Neo pointed out whilst Jaune looked at her in bafflement before turning to Ren for a translation.

“We could draw teams from a hat. That’d make it fairer.” Yang suggested in between taking bites of an apple.

_ ‘I don’t want to be on a team without Weiss or Ruby.’  _ Neo folded her arms stubbornly, her expression set in a pout that softened when she noticed Weiss and Nora had arrived.

“I’m sure there’s some way we can balance the teams.” Weiss looked around the group and noticed something off. “Wait, I thought you said there were eight playing, but there’s only seven of us.” She turned to Nora, who gave her a suspiciously nervous grin.

“I think this was everything you said we needed, Nora.” Weiss’ confusion was solved by the announcement and, looking over her shoulder, she saw Oscar, arms laden with various bags of crisps and other snacks as he struggled to close the door.

Now, it wasn’t Oscar’s fault he was stuck with a millenias old man inside his head, but Weiss’ current dislike for said old man did affect her opinion of the farm boy. It wasn’t fair by any means, especially since Oscar was a very polite and pleasant boy, but Weiss couldn’t help the way she felt about him and it was something the others knew all too well.

Weiss shot a glare at Nora, knowing she’d deliberately not told her that Oscar was taking part, before turning her attention back to the group at large. “Anyway, since Neo only wants to be on a team with me or Ruby, I’ll team up with her and Ruby can team up with Yang.”

“Sister time! You guys are going down!” Yang cheered, pulling Ruby into a crushing side hug. Ruby, on the other, hand didn’t look nearly as happy with this arrangement, frowning slightly up at Weiss as Yang’s glee shifted into a pensive look.

“Question, who’s Oscar going to team up with?” Yang asked, claiming one of the bags from the boy as he stumbled over with his cargo and dumped it onto the table. “No offense, dude, but you’ve got Ozpin in your head to give you advice and we’ve got no way of knowing whether he is or not.”

“I was going to suggest Ren and Nora team up, but then that’d leave me and Oscar, and I guess you’re right about it not being all that fair.” Jaune said, looking a little put out that it was looking like his suggestion wasn’t going to work.

“Or, you and Ren could team up and Nora and Oscar can be a team.” Weiss suggested innocently, ignoring the sharp look Jaune gave her. “That’s fairer, right?”

“I guess…” Jaune sounded rather conflicted about this proposed arrangement, but nobody else seemed to notice and he didn’t protest as he shuffled over to sit beside Ren. 

_ ‘You’re welcome.’  _ Weiss signed as subtly as she could to Nora as she sat down beside Neo and helped clear the table so they could set up the game. “Please tell me this is a new copy and not one you rescued from Beacon. I know you love this game but going back for it would be both incredibly stupid and risky”

“Yeah it’s new, I picked it up earlier today along with Compost King!” Weiss stared at Jaune, trying to puzzle out how anyone could sound so excited about something with the word compost in the title.

“Compost... King?”

“Yeah! You defeat aliens who are trying to steal your cows by creating compost!” Nora chirped as she pulled Oscar down beside her and ‘helped’ deal out the cards.

“That… doesn’t sound right.” Oscar piped up, opening a bag of crisps and munching on a handful as Jaune rescued the cards from Nora and dealt them out properly.

“We made up our own rules.” Ren intoned quietly, leaning into Jaune’s side, which he accepted after some hesitation and confusion. “Nora started it, but Pyrrha ran with it and we made our own game of it.” The previously cheerful mood of the group dimmed a little at the mention of her name, and they all fell quiet until Ruby spoke up.

“Maybe after this you could teach us your rules?”

“Yeah… I think that’d be good.” Jaune answered before clearing his throat and injecting some forced cheer into his voice. “So! I guess we select our Kingdoms!” He fanned out the Kingdom cards for the others to take.

“Atlas again?” Ruby groaned, dropping the card onto the table before remembering she was dating an Atlesian and shot Weiss an apologetic look. Rolling her eyes fondly, Weiss flipped her and Neo’s card over revealing that they were in command of Vale. This promised to be interesting.

* * *

“Weiss! Using signs is cheating!” Nora called out in protest, Weiss halting the charade to glare at her in irritation. They’d finished their game of Remnant a couple of hours ago, victory going to Ruby and Yang, and Weiss was starting to get mildly annoyed by how much time they were wasting on this.

“What else am I supposed to do, Nora? I don’t know half of these films.” Weiss shot back, folding her arms as she huffed. “And how is it any different from how you and Oscar have been signing to one another?”

“Oscar and I aren’t using an actual language.”

“Yes you are! You both knew this,” Weiss placed her hands together and opened them out. “Means book. It’s no different from Neo and I knowing what this means” Weiss raised both her hands index and middle finger outstretched on both and brought them down in a swift motion before clenching her right hand, thumb out and twisted it against the palm of her left hand.

“You’re taking all the fun out of it!” The orange-haired girl asserted stubbornly. “And you don’t need to know what you’re miming, just act out the words.”

“Yeah, Weiss. You’re depriving all of us of the joy of watching you act.” Yang needled gleefully, earning her own glare from Weiss.

“I’m pretty sure that after that disaster of a play we put on, we all came to the conclusion that I can’t act.”

_ ‘Play?’  _ Neo asked, the game having now been abandoned in favour of conversation, only a small improvement in Weiss’ irked mind.

“During the first semester, about a week before the winter solstice break, Ruby thought it would be a good team building exercise to put on a play.” Weiss explained, rubbing at her temple at the memory of that disaster.

“Oh I remember that! The Grandma kept making jokes and refused to die!” Nora snorted with laughter as Yang scowled at her.

“Hey! I was a great Grandma and my jokes were on point!”

“Yang, nobody laughed.” Yang’s scowl deepened as she turned to Ren who smiled placidly after his observation.

“I was just trying to spice up a rather dull script. Blame Ruby for writing something that was so dull and blatantly her trying to get Weiss to notice her feelings for her.” Both Ruby and Weiss flushed deep scarlet as they both looked anywhere but at each other and the latter protested.

“No it wasn’t! I’d have noticed!” A long loud silence followed Weiss’ exclamation as everyone in the group, including Oscar but excluding Ruby, gave Weiss looks that ranged from piteous sympathy to incredulous amusement.

“Weiss, Ruby cast you as the ‘charming and gorgeous huntress’ who came in to save little red riding hood.” Yang pointed out as she stifled laughter behind her mechanical hand.

“So? That was necessary for the plot.” Weiss felt her face flush an even deeper red as Neo joined in with Yang, her wheezy laughter filling the room.

“A plot that Ruby wrote.” Ren pointed out, Jaune nodding along. “A plot that included an unnecessarily long description of how handsome the huntress was and how good she looked in a suit.”

“She was just being complimentary…?” Weiss tried feebly as her memories of the play slotted together into a rather damning picture and she looked to the now bright scarlet Ruby for confirmation. “Ruby, did you write that play like that because of your crush on me?”

Ruby’s gaze remained firmly fixed on the wall, but after a moment she nodded, still blushing furiously. There was another moment of silence, then Weiss returned to her position at the now cleared-off table and with a solid thunk, let her head drop onto it.

“I am such an oblivious idiot.” She groaned, her embarrassment over this unexpected revelation mixing with the already tumultuous irritation in her head to form an unpleasant melange that filled her and bubbled just below the surface.

“Hey, Weiss, it’s okay.” Weiss could feel the awkwardness radiating off Oscar as he tried to comfort her, and she didn’t even need to look to know he had a hand hovering over her, unsure of whether he had permission to touch her or not.

“I think I’m done for tonight.” Weiss slowly rose to her feet and, avoiding making eye contact with Ruby, left the room. “Night, all.”

There was a smattering of replies from the others as Weiss rounded the corner and started to make her way up the stairs. About halfway up, her progress was halted by a hand on her sleeve and she didn’t need to look back to know who it was.

“I’m fine, Neo. I’m just tired.” Weiss looked down as the hand holding her sleeve was released so the pastel girl could reply.

_ ‘It’s not that, it’s actually something I’ve been meaning to ask for a little while now.’  _ The girl took a steadying breath before continuing, her fingers tripping over each other as she rushed out the words.  _ ‘Will you go out on a date with me?’ _

Weiss blinked, nonplussed by the sudden request. “Um, yes? But why are you asking now?” Neo just shrugged, glancing away.

_ ‘Well, I’ve been wanting to ask you out on one for a while now, and the whole thing about Ruby writing a play in the hopes you’d notice her feelings jolted my memory a bit. And…’  _ Neo paused in her talking as she seemed to cast around for the right words.  _ ‘You’ve been kind of stressed lately about the whole hunting down Cinder thing, and I figured you might like a night off.’ _

“I just had a night off.” Weiss pointed out, gesturing downstairs to the living room, peals of laughter drifting up the stairs from the teens who’d remained behind.

_ ‘I know, but this one will just be for us. And I’ve been looking forward to going on a date with you since Ruby said she was okay with us dating.’  _ Neo looked pleadingly up at Weiss.  _ ‘Please, for me?’ _

Weiss wondered briefly if it was because of some self-destructive tendency that she was dating women who could wrap her around their finger with one piteous look. “Fine, for you. And I’d be lying if I said I haven’t also been looking forward to going on a date with you.” Weiss admitted and was pulled into a hug by Neo, who pulled back after a few seconds to reach up and plant a quick kiss on Weiss’ lips.

_ ‘Great, I’ll tell you more tomorrow morning and let you get some rest now.’  _ Grinning happily, Neo skipped back down the stairs, giving Weiss a cheery wave just before she disappeared out of sight. Weiss stood there for a couple of minutes before continuing up the stairs, thinking over what Neo had said. She wasn’t stressed about hunting down Cinder, that was ridiculous! And if she were, it was only because it was important, certainly far more important than all this waiting around they’d been doing.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt for her to take a short break and go on a date with Neo, just for one day. Then they could get back to their planning and work out exactly how they were going to defeat the corrupt Maiden and reclaim her powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? No angst here, just fun stuff and kids getting to be kids. I take the position with TWO that chibi is non-canon unless I specifically reference it, which I do if I find it sufficiently funny. Also bonus points to the people who translate the film Weiss signed during her protests.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being way smarter than me. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and incredibly cuddly.


	53. Chapter 53

“Weiss, relax. You look fine.”

“Are you really sure though?” Weiss fretted, examining herself in the full length mirror in Yang’s room. It had been a couple of weeks since Neo had invited Weiss out on their date and the gap confused Weiss quite a bit. It also gave her plenty of time to worry about the whole affair, on top of her concerns about their lack of action.

“Yes! You’ve been worrying about this for the last hour and it’s getting kind of tiresome.” Yang complained, tossing a rubber ball against the wall and catching it lazily as it bounced back. “Neo doesn’t care what you’re wearing because it’s you and she’s completely smitten.” An evil smirk crossed Yang’s face as she paused in her game.

“You know, I bet she’s more interested in what’s beneath your clothes than the clothes themselves.”

“Yang!” Weiss shrieked indignantly, hands instinctively jerking to cover herself, despite being fully clothed.

“I’m just saying, she’s had several one night stands before you, I’d be very surprised if the idea hadn’t crossed her mind.” Shrugging, Yang continued to bounce the ball off the wall as Weiss slowly relaxed, though her face still burned.

“We… haven’t talked about it yet.” Weiss admitted, rubbing her upper arm self-consciously. Truth be told, it wasn’t as though she hadn’t had thoughts like that about Neo and Ruby and several other girls, but it was still a slightly uncomfortable subject for her to broach. “It feels kind of wrong to talk about… that with Neo without discussing it with Ruby first, and she’s only sixteen and-.”

“Okay, Weiss I’m going to stop you there.” Yang interrupted, her smirk morphing into a look of mild discomfort. “I’d really not like to have a discussion about my sister’s potential sex life, especially one you should be having with her, not me.” 

“I’m sorry…”

“I’m the one who brought it up, it’s not your fault.” Yang waved off Weiss’ apology, dropping the ball onto her bed as she proceeded to fist her hands in the duvet. “I know I talk a big game about sex and stuff, but it does make me a little uncomfortable.” She let out a dry chuckle. “I only really do it out of habit. it was a lot easier to just go along with locker room gossip back at Signal than get called out for being a weirdo, y’know?”

“That… sounds not good.” Weiss ventured, unsure of what to say.

“Yeah, it wasn’t fun, especially hearing the rumours of what a lot of the guys were saying about me.” Yang shuddered. “I… don’t like being thought of like that, like my body is all there is to me.”

“I’m sorry, Yang. That sounds awful.” Weiss was now really regretting every time she’d had an impure thought about Yang and silently apologised for every single one of them as she shuffled awkwardly, her wings fluttering.

“Yeah, it’s not fun. Blake was really great about it. Reassured me that they loved me for so much more than my looks, that they loved how open my heart was and how I made them feel safe.” Yang’s expression became wistful for a moment before she shook herself out of her reverie. “But we’re not here to listen to me pine for my ex. We’re here to make sure you’re presentable for your first date with Neo.”

Standing up, Yang walked over to Weiss, circling her with a critical eye. “Yep, just as I said earlier, you look great.”

“You really think so?” Weiss looked at herself in the mirror again, fiddling with the fastener on the braided cord Yang had given her in place of a tie. Really, her outfit wasn’t too dissimilar to the sort of thing she normally wore, the biggest difference being Yang insisting on Weiss wearing the tightest trousers she could fit into whilst still able to perform a split. But that was precisely the problem with the ensemble. “You don’t think it’s too… samey?”

“Weiss, it’s just a casual date. It’s not like you’re going out anywhere fancy, there’s no need to dress up. Where are you going, by the way?”

“I don’t know, Neo just said to dress casually.” Weiss shrugged, ceasing her fiddling and experimenting with whether she should roll her cuffs up or down. “Do you think I should wear my cloak?”

“Nah, you’ll be fine without it, and it covers you up. We want to show off some of those muscles.” Yang prodded Weiss’ biceps playfully making the white haired Faunus squawk.

“Yang!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Yang’s smirk had returned and she didn’t look in the least bit sorry as she backed off a little. “Seriously though, you’ve really grown into this look.”

Weiss smiled softly at Yang as she debated arming herself. On the one hand, she couldn’t hide her wings without her cloak, but neither could she hide her weapon without it, and many places had restrictions on weapons. She was just being paranoid, not every date was going to end with her getting assaulted. Straightening out her clothing one last time, Weiss turned and Gave Yang a quick hug.

“Thanks for helping me with this. I know Neo’s not your favourite person, so it means a lot.”

“Eh, I’ve pretty much gotten over the whole ‘Neo tried to kill me’ thing now. Turns out actually getting to know her helped a lot.” Yang patted Weiss on the shoulder and fixed her collar with a proud smile. “Now let’s get you downstairs so you can knock the half-pint’s socks off.”

Grinning in excitement, Weiss nodded and trotted out of the room and downstairs, Neo had told her she’d be waiting in the living room. Pausing before turning the corner into the room, Weiss took a steadying breath and stepped out.

“Hey, sorry I took so lo-.” Weiss felt the words catch in her throat when she saw Neo waiting patiently for her, a sunny smile on her face. She was wearing the same boots as she always did, she claimed they were the perfect height for her to fight in, but what was immediately striking about the outfit was about six inches worth of milky white skin between the top of Neo’s boot and the hem of her skirt.

Weiss had never seen Neo wear a skirt before and she’d been convinced that, much like herself, Neo preferred the practicality of trousers. She could not be more pleased to be wrong. The pale pink of the skirt complementing the white cap sleeve blouse and the light grey scarf wound around her neck. As Weiss’ eyes raked up Neo’s form, she was even more taken aback by the absence of Neo’s bowler.

_ ‘You like it?’  _ Neo signed tentatively, looking a little awestruck herself.

“You look amazing.” Weiss breathed, finally regaining the power of speech. “No hat today?”

_ ‘I don’t want to think about the past today. Today’s about us and our present.’  _ Weiss nodded in understanding, approaching the short girl and offering an arm, which Neo latched onto gleefully, picking up Hush to rest on her other shoulder as she did so.

“Shall we?” An enthusiastic nod from Neo and the pair proceeded towards the front door, just as Weiss was reaching out to open it, however, it sung open on its own to reveal Ruby and Oscar deep in conversation as they entered and nearly crashed into Weiss and Neo.

“Oh, sorry, girls.” Oscar blurted out, stepping back hastily. A bright red flush was creeping up Ruby’s cheeks as she looked between Weiss and Neo speechlessly while Oscar continued. “You’re dressed up nicer than usual. Not that you don’t dress up nicely usually, that is.” He flailed awkwardly for a moment before coughing. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Yes, we’re just heading out on a date.” Weiss said, allowing a touch of smugness to enter her voice as she confirmed yet again that she was indeed in a relationship with the woman on her arm.

“Oh, you didn’t mention anything…” Ruby murmured, having overcome her momentary speechlessness, though the red flush still remained.

“Sorry, Ruby, it must have slipped my mind to mention.” Weiss apologised, praying Ruby would accept that as the reason. Truth be told, Weiss had rather deliberately not told Ruby about her date. Not that she kept it a secret or anything, but she was still a little unsure of how Ruby would feel about her and Neo going out on an actual date, what with her still being somewhat out of sorts.

“Right…” Ruby eyes continued to flicker between the pair as she edged around them. “Well, have fun!” Once she’d finished edging her way around Weiss, Ruby took off at a swift pace down the hallway and they heard the distinct sound of her combat boots clomping up the stairs. Weiss and Neo exchanged looks of confusion, then looked to Oscar for insight, but all he could do was shrug.

Putting aside Ruby’s slightly unusual behaviour aside for the time being, the pair bade Oscar goodbye and stepped out into the warm afternoon air, though as the door swung shut behind them, Weiss could have sworn she heard a faint squeal drift out behind them.

Shrugging it off, Weiss let Neo lead the way, Hush unfolded over their heads to shield them from the bright sunlight. “So, where is it we’re going? Weiss asked, forgetting for a moment that Neo couldn’t answer, hand in hand as they were. However, Neo didn’t make a move to answer, instead she merely grinned mischievously and raised a finger to her lips, leaving Weiss to continue to wonder about their destination as they wound their way through the streets of Mistral.

* * *

“Of all the things I thought you’d take me out on a date to do, I’ll admit this never crossed my mind.” Weiss stared up at the blinking neon sign with a mixture of awe and trepidation as a discordant mess of music spilled out of the arcade.

_ ‘You’d never had ice cream before, so it got me thinking what else you hadn’t gotten to do.’  _ Neo shuffled awkwardly as Weiss didn’t answer immediately.  _ ‘I’m sorry, it was a dumb idea, we should go and do something that’s more your speed.’  _ She reached out to take Weiss’ hand, but she pulled it away and shook her head.

“No, this looks like it could be fun. And I do need to step outside my comfort zone every so often.” Taking a deep breath, Weiss marched resolutely into the arcade, Neo almost tripping over herself as she scampered after her, not paying attention to the two adults dressed in purple guarding the door, presumably to stop rowdy teenagers. “What do we do?”

_ ‘First we need to change our Lien over here.’  _ Meandering over to a machine in the corner, Neo pulled out her purse and fed a couple of notes into it, and after a few moments a large quantity of tokens clattered into a little tray, which Neo scooped into a provided small bag.  _ ‘Now we decide what games to play!’  _ She signed awkwardly, burdened as she was by the bag of tokens and Hush.

“I think I’ll defer to your judgement on that.” Neo smiled gleefully, stowing the bag and grabbing Weiss’ hand, pulling her eagerly further into the flashing lights before coming to a halt in front of two machines that were mostly screen. Attached to the front of each machine was a metal slab with several tiles inlaid, each one with an arrow embossed on them.

_ ‘These used to be my favourite back when I used to live here.’  _ Neo explained, hanging Hush on a railing attached to the machine and hopping up onto the slab to insert some tokens.  _ ‘Me and the Malachite twins used to come to places like this whenever we had free time.’ _

“You used to be friends with them?” Weiss asked as she climbed onto the other slab to join Neo as she started stomping her foot on various arrows, navigating through the machine’s menu.

_ ‘Yeah, when we moved to Vale they came with us to work for Junior.’  _ Neo answered, not quite paying attention to what Weiss was saying as she scrolled through what looked to be song names.

“So you were friends with them and yet you didn’t call them after you slept with them?” Neo paused, one foot in mid-air as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

_ ‘I was a different person back then. I didn’t care about anything or anyone other than Roman. I was a terrible person.’  _ Neo looked over at Weiss, melancholy clear in her expression.  _ ‘You make me  _ want  _ to be a better person.’ _

“I’m sorry for bringing it up.” Neo shook her head, dismissing Weiss’ apology, though a question still dug into Weiss’ thoughts.

_ ‘It’s fine, I’m fine. I just don’t like thinking about it.’  _ Neo tapped her foot a couple more times, selecting a song and queuing it up.  _ ‘You know how these things work?’  _ Weiss shook her head, looking down at the flashing arrows beneath her feet.

_ ‘It’s simple, you just step on the matching arrow when it passes over the little grid thing at the top of the screen. If I remember anything about fancy Atlas upbringing, I imagine you got taught all the posh dances.’ _

“Ballroom dances, yes, but not whatever this is.” Weiss pointed out as music started to blare from the machine’s speakers.

_ ‘You’re a singer and a huntress, you’ve got the rhythm and athleticism to nail this. Also, I started us on an easy one.’  _ Neo reassured her as arrows started scrolling up the screen and the singer started singing something about ‘searching for a girl all across Mistral’. Weiss didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics though, focusing instead on the rhythm of the music and in getting her feet to move in time.

It took a little while for her to find her feet and not need to look down every so often to see where she was putting them, but soon enough Weiss was rather comfortable with the strange approximation of dancing the game presented. She was rather disappointed when the song came to an end and turned to Neo, not paying attention to the numbers spinning on the screen.

_ ‘You like it?’  _ Neo asked, breathing a little heavily and grinning wildly up at Weiss.

“Yes, I do. Can we try a more difficult one?” Neo’s grin widened as she hastily pulled out more tokens and fed them into the machine. Once again stomping her foot to navigate the menu, Neo paused suddenly, her eyes widening as she started at one of the entries with pure glee.

_ ‘They have it! I can’t believe it! They took this song out of the newer machines!’ _ Without waiting for Weiss’ input, Neo selected the song, practically vibrating as she got ready. Rolling her eyes fondly at her girlfriend’s excitement, Weiss got ready too as a high pitched electronic riff began at a much faster tempo than the previous song.

It was quite a bit harder to keep up with this new song as the arrows rapidly scrolled up the screen in more complicated combinations than before. About halfway through, Weiss chanced a glance over at Neo to see how she was doing. She was unsurprised to see Neo was in her element, feet moving rapidly across the tiles. What surprised her was how Neo moved with her whole body rather than just her legs like Weiss was, dancing fully as she added the occasional spin and jump into her movements, which told Weiss she was intimately familiar with the song playing and the distractions.

Hearing a few unhappy noises from her machine, Weiss hastily returned her attention to her screen as she missed a couple of moves whilst she’d been distracted by Neo. Refocusing, Weiss got back into the rhythm and let herself get lost in the music. It definitely wasn’t what she’d normally listen to, in fact, she’d rarely listened to music ever since Jacques Schnee decided to use it as another way to exploit her. It was fun though, bubbly and with completely indecipherable lyrics, but she supposed that was half the fun of it.

Eventually, the song came to an end, leaving Weiss rather out of breath and Neo the same, leaning up against the railing as their score spun up on screen. Unsurprisingly, Neo had out-performed Weiss by a fair margin and had even gotten a high score. Weiss climbed down from the platform and watched with pride as Neo cheerfully entered her name into the table, although as she did, the question that she’d been able to ignore whilst dancing dug deeper at the back of her mind.

_ ‘There used to be a time when every dancing game in all the arcades in Mistral had my name on the high scores.’  _ She told Weiss once she’d finished, a smug grin plastered across her face.  _ ‘Want to go again?’ _

“Not right now. Maybe we should let someone else have a go, and I need a bit of a breather.” Weiss jerked a thumb at a small gaggle of younger teens waiting patiently for their turn. Nodding only a little reluctantly, Neo picked up Hush, relinquished the machine and hopped down to join Weiss.

_ ‘So what should we do now?’  _ She asked, looking around the arcade for their next activity. Weiss didn’t answer. however, choosing instead to voice her question.

“Neo, I was reminded when you mentioned the Malachite twins, did you hear anything back from your contacts yet?” Neo’s smile dropped a fraction and she looked to be trying to formulate an answer as she continued to look around the arcade, until her eyes settled on something and her eyes widened in delight.

Grabbing Weiss by the sleeve, Neo hauled her down an aisle of flashing machines and people, nearly crashing into a purple woman with a tattoo that Weiss didn’t quite get a good look at and coming to a halt in front of one that appeared to be a glass box. Inside it, however, there were a wide variety of toy animals with a claw suspended over them.

_ ‘I’m guessing you never had a stuffed animal when you were growing up, did you?’  _ Weiss shook her head automatically, a little dazed from the sudden rush across the room and change of subject.  _ ‘Right, I’m going to have to rectify that, then!’  _ Pulling out her tokens, Neo fed a few into the machine and grabbed hold of a joystick on the front as tinny music started playing. Carefully, Neo guided the claw to hover above an incredibly fluffy white fox and lowered it to grab the fuzzy toy. As she raised the claw, however, it slid out of its grasp.

Swearing silently, Neo fished out more money and tried again, this time she got a little further, but once again, the toy slipped out of the claw’s grip. “Neo, you don’t have to do this.” Weiss tried to tell the diminutive girl as she reached for her tokens for a third time.

_ ‘I know, but I want to.’  _ Neo insisted, pushing her tokens into the slot to start the machine all over again and failing yet again.  _ ‘It’s really sad you didn’t get to have one of these when you were a child and I want to get you a present. Also look at it, it’s a perfect fit for you.’  _ Weiss did have to admit the fluffy white toy was rather cute as Neo tried again, each try inching it closer and closer to the exit chute.

After the sixth try, Weiss was starting to think it was getting a little ridiculous. “Neo, if you want to get me something, we can always go to a toy store and buy it there, it’ll be cheaper.” She implored, but Neo shook her head.

_ ‘I’ve invested too much in this thing. I am going to get you that fox if it’s the last thing I do.’  _ She reached for more tokens only to find she’d run out.  _ ‘Be right back.’  _ Neo dashed off towards the nearest change machine as Weiss huffed in resigned amusement, noticing out of the corner of her eye the two guards from the front jogging towards the back of the arcade. There was probably some unruly teen about to get thrown out.

After a couple of minutes, Neo came running back carrying a jingling bag of change, which she fed into the machine, and continued her quest to obtain the stuffed fox.

All in all, it took Neo thirty four tries before she finally managed to get the claw to pick up the toy and carry it the last inch over the barrier and down the prize chute. Grinning in manic victory, Neo extracted the plush fox and presented it proudly to Weiss, who took it with a wry smile and cuddled it to her chest.

“It’s adorable, thank you, Neo.” Neo’s grin only grew wider as she stood up on tiptoe to kiss Weiss, the Faunus’ eyes fluttering shut as she let Neo take control and slip her tongue into her mouth. It felt so different to kissing Ruby, but gods, Weiss couldn’t say if one was better than the other because they were both so very good.

After about a minute, Neo reluctantly pulled away, dropping back down and smiling lovingly up at her girlfriend. Weiss opened her mouth, about to ask Neo about what they should do next, when something caught her eye just over Neo’s head. The two guards in purple standing at the end of the aisle of machines, watching them.

“Neo, why are the arcade guards watching us?” She asked quietly and Neo cocked her head in confusion.

_ ‘Guards, what guards? Arcades don’t have guards.’ _

“This one does, they were at the entrance, I thought they were there to stop fights.” Weiss nodded her head at the pair and Neo looked over her shoulder to see, the colour draining from her face as she did so.

_ ‘We need to go, now.’  _ Grabbing Weiss by the arm, Neo pulled her insistently towards the exit.

“But why?” The white-haired Faunus asked, perplexed by Neo’s sudden change in demeanour, but the pastel girl was unable to answer, her hands busy holding onto Weiss. They made it a couple of metres before Neo came to a halt, as a burly and purple clad man and woman appeared from a row of arcade machines in front of them.

“Neo, who are they?” Weiss asked warily, glancing back to see the other two beginning to approach.

_ ‘Remember I told you to be careful of people wearing purple with spider tattoos?’  _ Weiss nodded, narrowing her eyes to look closer at the pair, who’d blocked their path and were beginning to approach themselves.

“You said they work for Lil Miss Malachite or something.”

_ ‘Yeah, turns out this arcade is probably a front for one of her operations and I may have led us into the Sabyr’s den.’  _ Neo signed rather nervously as she glanced around for an exit.

“We can take them though.” Weiss said confidently, trying to find somewhere to tuck her fox.

_ ‘I’d rather not and irritate Lil Miss any further.’ _

“Oh, Lil Miss is already plenty angry with you, Neopolitan.” The large woman in front of them called out, standing confidently beside her partner. “Somethin’ about defiling her daughters.” She shrugged unconcernedly. “I don’t really care ‘bout the details, but she gave all of us free reign to beat the shit outta you if you ever showed your face in Mistral again, and since we heard you’ve been poking around and asking questions, we’ve been on the look out for ya.” The woman smirked menacingly as her compatriots chuckled.

“And I suppose we’ll have to beat up your little girlfriend too whilst we’re at it. It’ll be a shame to break that pretty face of hers.”

_ ‘Don’t you dare lay a finger on her.’ _

“Oh really? Who’s going to stop us, you?” The woman let out a full bellied laugh which the others joined in with. Why were the patrons all ignoring this? Weiss looked around to see the various other arcade goers studiously ignoring what was happening. “Last I remember of you, you were a little runt who could barely throw a punch, and from what I see, you’re still tiny.”

Weiss saw Neo’s grip tighten on Hush’s handle and she tensed accordingly. They almost certainly weren’t getting out of this without a fight.

“Enough talk.” Quick as a whip, the woman drew a pistol and fired it at them, only for Neo to quickly open Hush and deflect the bullet. The room was filled with screaming as the patrons who’d been ignoring the altercation started to flee in terror. The other three goons charged forward as Weiss pivoted to cover Neo’s back, channelling her aura and thrusting her hand forward.

A large glyph spun into being in the two goons’ path, causing them to crash into it, hard. Weiss felt Neo kick off and dart towards the other pair, still deflecting bullets with her parasol as she closed the gap. Weiss dismissed her glyph, leaving the stunned thugs to follow Neo and provide backup.

As they got close to the third attacker, Neo closed up Hush and swung it at the man, but he ducked under it, only to be met with Weiss’ foot to the face, just as she and Neo had practised. Neo used her momentum from the swing to spin around and drive the crook of Hush into the back of the man’s neck and sent him crashing to the ground, unconscious.

Neo popped Hush open again as the woman opened fire again, just as Weiss turned back to the other two who’d shaken off their daze and were barrelling towards them again, knives glinting in their hands.

“Neo!” Weiss called out to her partner as the men got dangerously close and the gunfire ceased. Without needing to look, Weiss caught Hush as it was tossed to her, clicked the button to project the hidden blade and used it to parry the first man’s clumsy thrust. Retracting the blade, Weiss jabbed the second man in the gut, pulling back and smacking him around the head with it as he doubled over.

Flipping the weapon over, Weiss used the crook to hook the first goon’s neck and send him crashing into one of the machines, knocking him out. There was a loud yell as the man she’d previously beaten over the head, lunged at her, knife outstretched. His attack was thwarted by Weiss bringing her wing down hard on his head, sending him sprawling to the floor, where he was finished off with a sharp kick to the head. He would definitely be feeling those blows for a week.

A sharp whistle caught Weiss’ attention and she turned to see Neo calmly emptying the woman’s gun as she groaned on the floor, a distinctly boot-shaped bruise beginning to form on her face.

_ ‘We should go before anyone else shows up.’  _ Weiss nodded in agreement, checking to see her fox plushie was okay before following Neo out of the arcade at a jog, tossing Hush back to her as they ran.

The pair finally came to a halt a few streets away, pausing to catch their breath as Neo made several very rude signs clearly directed at the thugs.

“So I guess that means we aren’t getting any information about Cinder from your contacts, then.” Weiss wheezed, leaning up against a wall. Neo paused in her silent tirade of abuse to give Weiss an incredulous look.

_ ‘Seriously, that’s what you’re concerned about?!’ _

“Why wouldn’t I be? That was our best lead on her whereabouts.”

_ ‘I don’t fucking care about that right now! A bunch of fucking thugs just interrupted our date, but the first thing you think about is that?!’ _

“Neo I-.” Weiss tried, but Neo’s hands were a blur.

_ ‘I brought you out so I could try and get you away from all of that, so that maybe I could try to break you out of this obsession you’ve gotten yourself into again.’ _

“I’m not obsessed!” Weiss protested angrily, the adrenaline from the fight still coursing through her.

_ ‘Oh really? Do you know why I invited you out today, of all days?’ _

“No, should I?”

_ ‘It’s your birthday, Weiss. I had to find out from Yang because you seem to have forgotten about everything except for your quest to kill Cinder.’  _ Weiss blinked in shock. Was it really her birthday? Weiss racked her mind for the date and froze. Neo was right, it really was her birthday and she’d forgotten.

_ ‘Hell, I’ve been planning on killing Cinder for just as long as you have, but I’m not letting it consume me like you are. Weiss, I’m so worried about you. Don’t you remember what happened in Menagerie?’  _ Neo let out a deep sigh, shaking her head.  _ ‘Let’s head back to the house before more of Lil Miss’ goons show up.’  _ Silently, Neo started walking, leaving Weiss to catch up, her thoughts a morass of confusion.

How could she be so obsessed again? She was past that now. But she’d thought she was past all her other issues before, and that turned out to be wrong. And she had been a little fixated on the issue, but that was just because it was vitally important, right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... That could have gone better, y'all know what it's like when your date gets interrupted by a bunch of criminals who want to beat you up for not calling their boss' daughters after a one night stand? Just me? I kid, I kid, as if anyone would want to have a one night stand with me. Things are all coming to head though and Weiss might actually be getting some self-awareness now, although when you forget your own birthday you know things are bad. Hopefully it'll all get sorted out soon.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and stopping me from spiralling. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and just being the sweetest.


	54. Chapter 54

Weiss and Neo didn’t speak to each other at all on the walk back to the house. As they walked, Weiss turned Neo’s words over and over in her head. She had to be wrong,. It wasn’t obsession, it was necessary preparation. But hadn’t she thought that back on Menagerie too? That she needed to do something to help and not be a useless lump?

Weiss didn’t know what to think as the pair approached the house. As she reached out to open the door, she was stopped by a hand on her wrist.

_ ‘Weiss, we really need to talk about how you’ve been acting the last couple of months.’  _ Neo told her firmly.

“There’s nothing to talk about, I’m fine.” Weiss answered automatically, though her grip on the door knob tightened.

_ ‘Yes, there is, and I shouldn’t have let it go on for so long.’  _ Neo insisted, her frown deepening.  _ ‘Weiss, you’re the one who said we needed to communicate and tell each other if something is bothering us. This is bothering me, so we need to talk about it.’ _

“You’re right, I did say that.” Weiss sighed, rubbing at her temple with her free hand. She didn’t understand how things even got like this, Neo had never been upset with her before. “Shall we use mine and Ruby’s room then?”

_ ‘I’ve already sent Yang a message. She’s out training until dinner, so we’ve got her room to ourselves.’  _ Nodding in reluctant agreement, Weiss opened the door and led the way into the house, waving a half-hearted greeting to Ren, who was busy cleaning the downstairs living room as she went.  _ ‘I’m just going to drop Hush off. I’ll be with you in a sec.’ _

Neo trotted further down the landing hallway to Ruby and Weiss’ room whilst Weiss went into Neo and Yang’s shared room, closing the door behind her. Sighing deeply, she drifted over to one of the beds and flopped onto it. Had she really gotten so caught up in wanting to hunt down Cinder?

Weiss mentally rewound the last few months since she’d arrived in Mistral. It had always been her and Neo’s intention to kill Cinder, even before they’d met up back in Vale, and as far as Weiss was aware, nothing about that had changed. No, that wasn’t true, they hadn’t known about this Maiden business before they’d talked to Ozpin that first night, and then later learned from Ruby about how the powers passed from person to person.

Knowing that Cinder had powers that could be critical to their side, and possibly reclaimed, had made the hunt for her that much more important. It wasn’t just about getting justice for their friends who’d lost their lives in the Fall, it was about striking a powerful blow against their enemies. It had been pretty much all she’d been focused on, what with Ozpin’s passive approach to the conflict.

Weiss stared up at the ceiling, her last thought turning over in her head.

_ All she’d been focused on. _

Wasn’t that the definition of obsession? Maybe Neo was right, maybe Weiss had let this consume her. Continuing to gaze up at the blank ceiling, Weiss pulled her new arctic fox plushie into a tight hug as she tried to work out what came next.

Suddenly, the room door crashed open making Weiss jerk upright to see what the commotion was. Neo stood panting in the doorway, a panic-stricken look on her face. Surely this conversation wasn’t that bad, something must be wrong.

_ ‘Weiss, you need to come with me right now. Something’s wrong with Ruby.’  _ Weiss’ heart froze. She scrambled to her feet and ran for the door, still clinging to the stuffed toy.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Several awful scenarios crossed her mind as she didn’t even wait for Neo to answer, darting out of the room and down the hallway in a blind panic. Ruby could be hurt, or worse. She needed to be there. What if something had happened to her and Weiss hadn’t even noticed because she was so caught up in her stupid revenge mission?

Weiss crashed into the room, expecting the worst, only to find Ruby curled up on her bed surrounded by streamers and sobbing hoarsely, as though she’d been crying for hours.

“Ruby!” Weiss crossed the room in three long strides and threw her arms and wings around the crying girl. “Liebling, what’s wrong?”

Ruby didn’t answer at first, though her hiccuping sobs did slow and stop. Eventually, she raised her head to look up at Weiss, tears still streaming down her face. “Weiss…?”

“I’m here, Liebling, I’m here.” Weiss tried to reassure her girlfriend, but Ruby just shook her head and buried her face back into her knees, her body once again wracked with sobs. A soft click behind Weiss startled her and she snapped around to see Neo stood awkwardly by the door, having closed it to give them some privacy.

_ ‘I just found her like this.’  _ Neo explained, approaching hesitantly as though unsure of what to do or say.  _ ‘And I couldn’t exactly talk to her when she wouldn’t look at me.’  _ Weiss nodded, returning her attention to the quietly sobbing girl in her arms.

“Liebling, please tell me what happened.” She implored, burying her face into the crook of Ruby’s neck as she tried to work out what had made Ruby so upset and why there were all these streamers on her bed.

A quiet whistle got Weiss’ attention and she pulled away briefly from Ruby’s neck to look over at Neo who was looking down at something on the desk. “What is it?” SIlently, Neo lifted something up so Weiss could see and her heart plummeted when she did. A small cake and clumsily iced on top were the words ‘Happy Birthday Weiss’.

Oh no.

“Ruby... Liebling... Were you planning something for my birthday?” Weiss asked quietly, several uncomfortable emotions twisting in her gut that only curled up harder when Ruby nodded into her knees.

“It was going to be a surprise, I wanted to spend time with you. We’ve barely talked for weeks.” A chill raced down Weiss’ spine at Ruby’s words. She was right, Weiss had been so wrapped up in herself, she and Ruby had spent next to no time together.

“Ruby, I’m sorry…” Weiss tried, but Ruby shook her head, face still buried in her knees.

“D-Do you not like me anymore?” She mumbled in between sniffles, and Weiss’ heart plummeted.

“Of course I do, Ruby.” She protested, squeezing harder in the hope that it would help somehow.

“Then why have you been spending all your time with Neo? You and her keep going off together, and today you had a date when we haven’t been out together since I said I was okay with you and her dating.” There was a loud sniff and Weiss looked up to see Neo looking absolutely distraught and fighting to hold back tears.

“It feels like we’ve drifted apart and that I’m being left behind.” Ruby finished, curling tighter in on herself.

Weiss didn’t know what to say. This was all her fault. Neo had been right, she’d become obsessed again and in doing so neglected Ruby, one of two people she never ever wanted to hurt. How could she have done this, let herself fall back into her old habits again. Tears pricked at her eyes as she buried her face into Ruby’s neck.

“I’m sorry, Ruby. I’m so sorry.” She muttered over and over to the shaking and shivering girl. “I swear, I never meant to make you feel like that. I wasn’t thinking, I’m sorry.”

“I-It’s not just that…” Ruby’s murmur was almost too quiet to hear, but to Weiss she may as well have been screaming. This was all her fault, she should have seen, she should have noticed something was off with Ruby. “I’ve just been so stressed, everyone keeps looking to me for answers like I’m the leader when really Ozpin should be leading but he can’t because he’s stuck inside Oscar’s head and he’s just a child so he can’t really but I’m only a couple of years older than him and then you’re talkingabouthuntingdownCinderandkillingherandI’mjustsoscaredbecauseshe’sgotallthesecrazypowersandwasabletotakeoutOzpinandPyrrhaandI’msososcaredshe’llkillyoutooandthenthere’salltheseweirdfeelingsI’vebeenhavingandIdon’tknowwhattodoaboutthembecauseit’sallmyfaultandthere’snowayshecouldreallylikemeafterwhatIdidand-”

“Breathe, Ruby.” Weiss instructed as firmly as she dared as the words kept spilling out of Ruby’s mouth, muffled by her legs and almost completely unintelligible by the end. Ruby acquiesced to the request and took several deep breaths, holding them and releasing in a long exhale. After a couple of minutes of this, Weiss dared to venture a question.

“Ruby, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Everyone’s counting on me, I have to be strong for them.” Ruby said mournfully, finally raising her head to look at Weiss, her tears having finally stopped. “And after I said I’m okay with the two of you being together, I couldn’t say anything more about it.”

“Ruby, I’m so so sorry I’ve been neglecting you.” Weiss apologised again as she pulled back and wrapped her arms around herself as she looked away in guilt. “I-I should have noticed or something, instead of letting myself get caught up and obsessed with something again.” She was sorely tempted to curl up into her own ball beneath her wings and hope that it would all go away, that things could go back to the way they were.

Now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for herself though. This was all her fault… Okay, not all of it, and she’d probably be having some very stern words with Ozpin and probably Qrow about stepping up and taking some responsibility. But she was still definitely at fault and it was up to her to fix it somehow, if only she knew how…

“Ruby I…” She paused, having no idea what to say next. More explanations? No explanation could justify her callous treatment of Ruby, no matter how unintentional it had been. Even more reassurances? Empty words to Weiss’ mind, they were huntresses, women of action.

Unable to come up with an adequate continuation, Weiss reached out to run her hand through Ruby’s hair, the younger girl leaning into it, grateful for the contact. Just as Weiss began scritching at the nape of Ruby’s neck, she was interrupted by a guilty cough from Neo.

_ ‘This is my fault.’  _ She signed once she had Weiss and Ruby’s attention.  _ ‘I knew Weiss was getting obsessive, that something was off with Ruby. I should have said something before things got this bad.’ _

“Neo, no. I-I should’ve said something.” Ruby’s voice was cracked from the crying as she tried to speak above a whisper. “It’s my fault.”

“It’s not either of your faults. I’m the one who started this whole mess by letting myself get caught up in wanting revenge.” Weiss butted in, frowning at her girlfriends, daring either of them to contradict her. Silence reigned between them for several tense moments, then it was broken by a weak chuckling from Ruby.

“I don’t think we’re very good at this.” She laughed softly. “And if we keep going like this, we’ll be going in circles all day.”

“I suppose we would, wouldn’t we?” Weiss agreed, smiling wanly at the other two. “We’re all very stubborn.” They nodded as Weiss sighed deeply, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. “So… what do we do now? How do we make things better?”

_ ‘I think,’  _ Neo suggested tentatively.  _ ‘That Ruby and I need to be better about communicating when there’s something wrong or when we’re upset.’  _ Ruby nodded in agreement.

“If something’s bothering me, I should tell you girls about it and not let it fester.” Weiss thought she heard some uncertainty in Ruby’s tone, but she dismissed it as the stress and high emotions they were all going through.

“I need to work on not getting so caught up and obsessed about things.” Weiss added, though she did wonder how she was going to do that when she was almost completely unable to tell when she was getting like that.

“We’ll help, Weiss.” Ruby spoke, almost as though she’d read Weiss’ mind. “It can’t be an easy thing to break, but we’re here for you, to support you, whatever you need.”

“I should also spend more time with you, Ruby. Even when I wasn’t fixating on hunting down Cinder, I still wasn’t paying you enough attention compared to Neo.” Weiss added, remembering all the times she’d snubbed Ruby in favour of sending time with Neo, sometimes to plot, but others just to hang out. “You’re both equally important to me and my actions should reflect that.”

“Weiss, it’d be ridiculous for you to spend exactly as much time with me as you do with Neo.” Ruby pointed out, shuffling over on the bed a little so she could pull into Weiss’ side. “And I don’t want you to go the other way and start to neglect Neo by accident. I…” Her eyes flickered over to Neo briefly as the pastel girl stood somewhat awkwardly a few feet away from the couple on the bed. Ruby let out a soft uncertain sound before finishing her thought. “I’d actually like it if we could do more things together, all three of us.”

Weiss blinked in surprise. She hadn’t quite expected Ruby to make that suggestion. Weiss glanced over at Neo to see what her reaction was as Ruby snuggled deeper into her side, face pinking slightly. Neo, for her part, stared wide-eyed and nonplussed at Ruby, her gaze occasionally flickering to Weiss as though to confirm that Ruby really had said that.

_ ‘I think I’d like that, Little Red.’  _ She offered, allowing a small hopeful smile to cross her face as Weiss extended a hand to her, inviting her into the embrace. Neo moved a couple of steps forward, then hesitated, looking to Ruby, who was watching the proceedings with an odd gleam in her eyes. Then she wordlessly extended her own hand to Neo. The small smile blossomed into a wide grin as Neo took the last few steps and took both girls’ hands, allowing them to pull her onto the bed and into a group hug.

Weiss couldn’t help but notice both Neo and Ruby were a little stiff when Neo initially joined them, but after a little while they both relaxed in favour of cosying up to Weiss, who laid her wings over them all.

“Are we okay now?” Weiss asked of the group after a few minutes of them being comfortably snuggled together.

“I think so.” Ruby murmured sleepily, fingers idly twirling a lock of Neo’s hair as the pastel girl nodded in agreement against Weiss’ chest. “Sorry I ruined your birthday with this, Princess.”

“No, you didn’t, Ruby, and no arguing either. Whilst I think we’d all have preferred it if it hadn’t come to this, don’t apologise for it. This needed to happen, one way or another.” Ruby let out a slightly reluctant hum, agreeing with Weiss as the Faunus continued rather sheepishly. “Besides, I actually forgot it was my birthday today.”

“You didn’t!” Ruby gasped in horror as Neo’s scroll appeared in both their eyelines.

‘She did, I had to remind her of it.’ She smiled innocently up at Weiss, who scowled good-naturedly down at her impish girlfriend.

“It doesn’t really matter anyway, it’s not as though I really got to celebrate. It was more an opportunity for Jacques to hold a gala and trot me out in front of the Atlas elites like some kind of show horse. A rather apt comparison now that I think about it, given my nature and his attitudes.” There was a frantic wriggling as Ruby extricated herself from the pile and trotted over to the desk where the birthday cake sat.

“That settles it, then. You are most definitely having a birthday party and we’re going to get everyone involved and we’re all going to eat some of this cake.”

“Ruby, it’s fine, really.” Weiss protested, but she knew this was a battle she wasn’t going to win, especially not when Neo wriggled out from under Weiss’ wings too to join Ruby.

_ ‘Come on, Snowflake, it’ll be a fun thing all three of us can do together.’  _ Weiss hung her head in defeat, but was unable to keep the happy smile off her face as she got up to join her two girlfriends as they collected the cake and remaining party supplies that hadn’t been strewn over the bed. Even if the spectre of the White Fang attack loomed over them, as well as the threat of Salem and her forces, they could at least spend a little time enjoying themselves before the inevitable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, finally some healthy communication between these girls. They did say they'd probably make mistakes, but what's important is how they deal with them and learn from them and they certainly seem to be doing that. Alas, we cannot have cute fluff and angst forever and the plot is coming soon as well as the grand finale of Exiled. So that'll be fun! _Hides sheets of planning paper with ANGST scribbled all over it._
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being adorable as heck. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and putting up with being my plot soundboard.


	55. Chapter 55

“Weird flaily arms Grimm doesn’t count for you guys, there were more of us  _ and  _ Ren’s the one that killed it.” Nora folded her arms smugly, daring Yang to challenge her point. It was early evening a couple of weeks after Weiss’ birthday and everyone had ended up gathered in the living room after dinner.

Weiss wasn’t sure how the argument had started, but she suspected it was Nora’s fault somehow, knowing how competitive the girl could get. Something she also wasn’t sure about was how she’d ended up lying across the sofa with her head in Ruby’s lap and her feet tucked into Neo’s. Not that she disliked her current position by any means, though it was mildly annoying how Qrow would glance over at them every so often and let out a beleaguered sigh.

“Alright fine, you guys get weird flaily arms Grimm.” Yang grumbled, adding another check mark to the whiteboard they normally used to sketch out battle plans on, but now functioned as a scoreboard as the two teams competed to see which had slain the most unique types of Grimm. “You three remember any others?” She asked the triad hopefully.

“Well, if we only need a majority or to deal the killing blow, you can add a Deathstalker to ours.” Weiss suggested lazily, enjoying the way Ruby was toying with her hair. It was a lot easier to not worry about the impending White Fang attack, despite it being less than a month away, with Ruby’s fingers working their magic on her scalp.

“When did we fight a Deathstalker?” Yang cocked her head at Weiss in confusion. “Pretty sure I’d remember fighting a big ass bug.”

“It was on Menagerie. A giant Deathstalker, bigger than the one during initiation, attacked Kuo Kuana. Blake, Sun, Neo and I fought and killed it.” The Faunus shrugged awkwardly as Yang gleefully added another tally mark to their side.

She’d told the others of her deceit about her and Neo’s whereabouts the month prior to their arrival in Mistral not too long after her confession to Yang. They… hadn’t been best pleased that Weiss had lied to them about it, but took it in stride and eventually forgave her. Though she suspected Ozpin was waiting to throw it back in her face at a later date, now that she knew his tendency to manipulate people, even if it was for the greater good.

“Hey, Neo does not count for your side!” Jaune protested, frowning at the board as Nora nodded in vigorous agreement.

“I got the killing blow though, so it does count for us.” Weiss countered smugly, sticking out her tongue at the rival team. Any further argument from them was interrupted by the buzzing of a scroll and they all quickly checked to see if it was them.

“I’ll be back in a sec.” Qrow grumbled, hauling himself to his feet and sloping out of the room, answering his scroll as he went.

After a moment’s pause, the competition continued in earnest. “They’re still winning, we need more.” Yang implored her two teammates who could only shrug.

“Sorry, Yang that’s all we’ve got.” Ruby said as Nora cheered and started shimmying in a display of very poor sportsmanship in Weiss’ opinion. “Nevermore, Ursa, Beowolf, Creep, Boarbatusk…” Ruby ticked the Grimm off on her fingers.

“Beringel, Deathstalker, Petra Gigas…” Weiss continued, ticking them off on Ruby’s other hand. “Technically, Ruby did destroy all those Grimm at Beacon…”

“Doesn’t count! No special silver eye powers allowed!” Nora put down, still performing her shimmy dance.

“Come on, we just need one more to tie with them.” Yang whined, glowering at Nora.

“Well… If we’re counting Petra Gigas as a unique entity…” Honestly, Weiss was surprised it hadn’t occurred to her until now. “You can add Arma Gigas to our list.”

“What’s that?” Ceasing her dance, Nora glared at Weiss with suspicion. By way of answer, Weiss held out a hand and summoned a glyph above it and focused. After months of practice, It was easy for her to slip into the mindset she needed to summon, though it still took a little time for them to manifest.

A few seconds later, a small version of her old foe crawled out of the glyph and stood to attention. “Technically it’s a Geist possessing a suit of armour.” She explained to Nora who cocked her head in interest and dropped to her knees to get a better look at the miniature knight. “I… don’t actually know why it’s even a thing or why they have their own name, although I get the nasty impression that Jacques specially created it to test me.”

“Test you?!” Nora stared up at Weiss, eyes agog. “This wasn’t just something you ran into?”

“No, Jacques insisted that if I were to attend Beacon, I had to pass a test of his, and this was it.” Weiss closed her fist to extinguish the glyph and dismiss her summon. “It’s actually how I got this scar.” She gestured at her eye and she felt Ruby tense beneath her. “Right after the fight I couldn’t actually see out of it. I thought I was going to be blind forever and I had no chance of being a huntress with an injury like that.”

“Jacques Schnee put you through a fight dangerous enough to break your aura and blind you?” Yang growled, angry heat rolling off her as her eyes took on a magenta hue.

“It wasn’t permanent, my eye was healed by the next day.” Weiss pointed out, though she did have to admit in hindsight it was a rather punishing test to put a sixteen-year-old without much formal training through. “The doctor said I was incredibly lucky the damage hadn’t been more extensive.”

She was saved from having to think about just how lucky she’d been by Qrow re-entering the room, tucking his scroll into one of his skirt pockets. “That was Leo.” He announced to the group, preempting the question. “He says he’s got some urgent information about Salem’s forces, and more specifically, the whereabouts of Cinder. He wants us to meet him immediately.”

Weiss sat up at the mention of Cinder and she focused her full attention on Qrow as he leaned up against the wall. “Why now? It’s been months.”

“My thoughts exactly. With how he’s been acting and the White Fang attack coming soon, I don’t trust it one bit.”

“A trap?” Oscar asked warily and Qrow nodded. “Should we not go, then?”

“No, if we don’t go, it’ll look suspicious and he’ll almost certainly work out we’re onto him. Though how he hasn’t realized yet…” Qrow sighed deeply, rubbing at his temples.

“So we go.” Standing up, Ruby looked around the group. “Even if it’s a trap, at least we know and we can prepare for it. Everyone get your weapons. Neo, when we get to the academy, I want you to sneak in after us. They don’t know you’re here and on our side. I want you to be our secret weapon in case things go wrong.”

Neo nodded, cracking her neck in preparation as the others started to get up ready to arm themselves.  _ ‘You think it will?’ _

“Almost certainly.”

* * *

Weiss’ hand never left the hilt of Penny Dreadful as the group made their way across the silent courtyard of Haven academy, heading towards the main entrance hall. Ruby and Qrow took the lead whilst Neo and Oscar hung back and the others arranged themselves in a loose group in between. Weiss paused for a moment to admire the buildings in the fading light. She hadn’t taken much opportunity to visit the academy grounds whilst she’d been in Mistral, preferring the solitude of the house.

“Why do you think Professor Lionheart would want to see us now? If it is a trap, what’s the point?” Yang muttered to Weiss as they approached the main entrance.

“Maybe to remove us so the White Fang attack goes off without a hitch?” The white-haired Faunus suggested, shrugging helplessly. “What with pretty much every other hunter in Mistral indisposed for whatever reason, maybe we’re the only people left who could interfere.”

“Not a bad idea, Mini Ice Queen.” Qrow said over his shoulder as he reached the large double doors, placing his hands on them ready to throw them open. “But we can worry about the why later. Everybody ready?” Everyone nodded, some more hesitantly than others. With a grim expression, Qrow pushed the doors open and slouched into the large entrance hall, the others trailing after him.

Weiss felt a hand squeeze her own in comfort before it breezed away and Neo was nowhere to be seen. Lionheart was waiting for them, leaning against a railing and overlooking the main hall from above a large statue of a woman.

“Why, hello! Thank you all for coming at such short notice.” He spoke, Weiss noticing a nervous tremor in his voice. All those lessons on how to read people were paying off as she signed discreetly to Ruby, who’d hung back to let Qrow do the talking.

_ ‘Something is definitely wrong, he’s nervous about something.’  _ Ruby nodded slightly before refocusing her attention on Lionheart.

“Well when you said you had information, we weren’t exactly inclined to hang about.” Qrow drawled, staring unblinkingly up at the professor, hands stuffed firmly in his pockets.

“And you’re all armed…” Lionheart’s eyes flicked between the members of the group, his posture becoming even more tense as he not-so-subtly moved his left hand behind his back.

“Leo, we’re hunters, when are we not armed?” Qrow pointed out and Lionheart relaxed a little. “You okay?”

“I… just haven’t had my evening coffee yet.” Yes, some caffeine would certainly sort out that trembling in his right hand. Weiss was also uncomfortably aware of how exposed they were as Lionheart stood over them, and she glanced around surreptitiously for an ambush, noticing Yang and Ren were doing the same.

“Right… Anyway Leo, good as it is to see you, we’ve got work to do. What information do you have for us?” Lionheart opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by an incredulous call out from Yang.

“Raven?!” Weiss snapped her gaze to where Yang was looking and, sure enough, a familiar corvid was perched on a railing on an upper balcony. At Yang’s exclamation, the bird took flight, wheeling down to swoop behind Lionheart and Raven emerged from the other side, mask firmly in place.

“What are you doing here?!” Qrow shouted up at his sister as she removed her mask and smirked down at the assembled teens and grumpy adult.

“Is that any way to greet your sister?” Raven mocked as she took slow measured steps across the balcony and down the stairs.

“It is when she abandons her friends and family for petty and selfish reasons.” The tension in the room ratcheted up several notches, Yang was particularly on edge as she watched Raven descend to their level. “Leo, what are you doing?”

“We all have our own agendas, brother, whether we admit to them or not, and Leo’s just happens to be keeping his cowardly hide intact.” Raven shot a mildly disgusted look up at Lionheart who shrank minutely under the ferocity of her gaze.

“I did what I had to… There’s no beating Salem...” There was a sharp intake of breath from around them. They’d all suspected, but to actually hear the man admit to turning traitor… Weiss could feel her blood starting boil as she glared up at the turncoat.

“You’re wrong.” Ruby’s voice was remarkably steady as she stepped forward. “We’ve done things people would say were impossible, and I know the only way we were able to do it was because we weren’t alone. We had people to teach us, to help us, and we always had each other. Please, work with us, Professor, it’s not too late.” Lionheart shrank further away, guilt creasing his face as he shook his head so Ruby turned her attention to Raven instead, extending a hand to her, which the older woman regarded mournfully, eyes glazed over as though she was looking past Ruby at someone else they couldn’t see.

“Raven, please…”

“You sound so much like your mother.” Raven hung her head, breaking her gaze to look down at the ground. “I’m sorry, Summer.”

A slash of crimson and a familiar red thundercloud formed where Raven’s sword sliced the air. Before anyone could react, a ball of fire shot out of the roil and slammed into Ruby, knocking her back.

“Ruby!” Yang and Weiss’ shouts were nearly simultaneous as they rushed to the fallen girl’s side to help her up. Looking back at the portal, Weiss’ heart dropped as Cinder Fall emerged, smug satisfaction written across her face, half of which was covered by a black mask.

“Hello, boys and girls.” Her voice oozed condescension, the exact same tone that had narrated Penny’s death back at Beacon. Behind her, three more figures emerged from the portal. Emerald, Mercury and Vernal all arrayed themselves around Cinder as the portal snapped shut and Raven all but stormed over to Cinder.

“We had a deal!” She snarled but received only a faux contrite smile.

“I was aiming blind, maybe you shouldn’t have opened your portal there.” Weiss stood up from her crouch as Yang hoisted Ruby back to her feet, glaring daggers at Mercury. If Weiss had thought the atmosphere was tense before, she’d been dead wrong. They were standing in the middle of a Dust keg that was liable to go off at any moment and was going to go off one way or another.

“Easy, stay calm.” Qrow ordered the teens, though his hand rested lightly on the handle of his sword. Both sides waited for the other to make the first move. Suddenly, there was a loud creaking of the doors behind them and Weiss glanced back to see an incredibly tall and bulky man enter the room and close the doors behind him.

“The White Fang are laying the bombs and securing the grounds. No one’s getting in… or out.” He announced in a booming voice and Weiss exchanged a frantic glance with Ruby. The attack was today?! But why? Had they known the information was leaked and changed it? It didn’t matter why now, but it did very likely mean that Blake and the others wouldn’t be here to support them.

Qrow meanwhile was trying to talk to his sister. “Raven, this is low, even for you. How long have you been working with them?”

“Awww, don’t take it too personally, little bird. Your dear sister was a recent addition, with the right motivation.” Cinder’s eye flicked momentarily to look at Ruby before refocusing on Qrow and continuing her mockery. “Leonardo though… entrance to the Vytal Festival was very useful. Dear Lionheart’s been feeding all sorts of information to Salem for a very long time.”

“Stop it…” Lionheart protested weakly, shame etched across his face. Out of the corner of her eye Weiss noticed something, a familiar shimmer in the air that went unnoticed by the others as it moved around the edge of the room towards Cinder.

If they could keep Cinder gloating, something she seemed very happy to do, then maybe… Carefully, Weiss slid up behind Qrow, praying the arrayed enemies wouldn’t take it as an aggressive action, and she whispered under her breath to Qrow.

“Neo’s on it. Keep her talking.” She moved back a little once her message was passed on, Qrow gave no indication he’d heard her but he kept talking.

“It wasn’t just accidents… You just handed them over to her, didn’t you? All the Hunters in the Kingdom, and you let her kill them!” Lionheart flinched away at the sudden shout from Qrow and, despite how pathetic the man looked, Weiss felt no sympathy for him.

“Don’t beat yourself up, Leo. I’m sure Hazel and Tyrian would’ve hunted them down eventually.” Cinder was clearly having the time of her life, lording her new position of power over the trapped group, and was too busy with this to notice the shimmer getting steadily closer to her.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Weiss’ head snapped to look at Jaune as he spoke up, glaring hatefully at Cinder with murderous intent. “How can you be so broken inside?” This wasn’t good, Jaune sounded like he was about to do something incredibly stupid and ruin everything, but she had no way to communicate the plan to him.

“You took so many lives and now you’re here rubbing it in our faces as though it’s something to be proud of, and all with that damn smile on your face!” This was very not good as Jaune drew his sword. There was a loud clattering of metal as everyone else did the same.

“Everybody stay calm!” Qrow called to them, being the only one not to draw a weapon and glancing at Weiss in worry. Unfortunately, Raven caught the glance and looked at Weiss suspiciously as Jaune continued to scream at Cinder and the shimmer that was Neo drew ever closer. Ravens eyes scanned the group and suddenly widened in shock before flitting all around the room.

She knew.

Fuck, this was bad, Neo wasn’t close enough yet to land a definitive blow and Raven was about to rat her out. Yet Raven said nothing, merely smirking a little before returning her expression to a hard glare. Weiss had no time to puzzle out Raven’s lack of action as Cinder finally responded to Jaune’s tearful accusations.

“Who are you, again?”

That was the spark that finally set off the Dust keg. With a howl of rage, Jaune hurled himself towards Cinder, completely unaware that he’d just ruined the plan. Cinder’s confident smirk switched to sudden horror when she heard the glass shattering behind her as Neo lunged for her, blade aimed straight for the small of Cinder’s back.

It would have been a perfect hit, skewering the smug villain, but Neo hadn’t had the time to get close enough and Weiss watched in despair as Cinder was able to just about move out of the way enough for her aura to take the brunt of the blow.

“Neo!?” She shrieked in confusion, on the back foot for the first time in the entire confrontation, as Jaune came barrelling in with several wild swings. This would not end well, Jaune and Neo hadn’t trained together and Jaune wasn’t thinking, his form was sloppy and his attacks poorly executed. Not caring about the others, Weiss darted forward to support Neo and get Jaune away from fighting Cinder but she was blocked by laser fire from off to the side searing across her path.

Weiss quickly pivoted to face her attacker and wasn’t all that surprised to see Vernal advancing on her, circular blades outstretched and aimed directly at her.

“Well, guess we get to have that rematch after all.” The woman mocked as Weiss readied herself, raising her blade to face her adversary. “Let’s see what you’ve got when you haven’t got the pipsqueak to back you up.” Vernal lunged forward, hurling one of her blades ahead of her, forcing Weiss to deflect it and send it bouncing back towards its wielder, who closed the gap faster than Weiss anticipated.

Flicking her hand, Weiss conjured a glyph beneath her and launched herself up and over Vernal’s charge. Another flick and the glyph exploded in flames, catching Vernal before she could kill her momentum. Landing smoothly, Weiss deflected several quick shots with Penny Dreadful and sped forward, her blade dancing through Vernal’s defences to land a couple of strikes before she caught a heavy boot to the stomach which sent her reeling back, retching a little.

“You’ve gotten better, I’m almost impressed!” Vernal punctuated her fight banter with several more laser blasts, putting pressure on Weiss to deflect them and not letting her recover her composure from the earlier kick. Growling in frustration, Weiss conjured several glyphs in mid-air and, in a quick break between Vernal’s shots, she leaped away, using the glyphs to put some distance between them.

As she flew through the air, she took a quick survey of the other melees. It did not look good, Neo and Jaune were still fighting Cinder, but Jaune was spending more time getting in Neo’s way than actually helping, forcing Neo to take several risks to stop him from getting skewered. None of the other fights seemed to be progressing well either.

Yang and Mercury were trading powerful blows, neither giving any ground, Ruby struggled against Emerald, Ren and Nora were facing off against the large man as Oscar battered Lionheart just behind them and darting between them all were Qrow and Raven, dancing between the various melees and shifting from human to bird freely as they went. 

Weiss landed on the other side of the hall and weighed up her options. Her current priority was to beat Vernal as quickly as possible so she could aid Neo, and to do that, she needed help. Holding out her hand a spinning glyph manifested before her and Weiss willed her knight to emerge quickly befor-

“Aaaaah!!” She screeched in pain and her concentration was lost as one of Vernal’s blades crashed into her, the woman having caught up. The summon dissipated as Weiss swung around to face Vernal once more. The woman leaped at her, blades swinging, and Weiss brought up her own to meet them, bringing up her free hand as she did so to slam a fire-infused punch into Vernal’s side and sending her scattering away.

Weiss considered trying her summon again, but Vernal was back on her too fast. Several more times they clashed, each brief melee ending with Weiss trying to create some space between them to give herself those few precious seconds she needed to complete her summon.

Vernal though refused to let up, seeming to know what Weiss was trying to achieve and keeping her on the defensive and unable to take the initiative. This was going nowhere, and the longer she was stuck fighting Vernal, the more time Cinder had to seriously injure Jaune.

Nobody else was able to intervene, they were all too busy with their own fights. The room was filled with the sounds of combat and all the while it nagged at the back of Weiss’ mind that the White Fang were outside planting bombs whilst they were all trapped in here.

As Vernal flung one of her weapons at Weiss again, an idea came to her. Flicking her wrist to send Lilie’s barrel spinning, Weiss deflected a couple more laser shots from Vernal as she closed the gap that Weiss had created between them yet again. With a flick, Vernal launched one of her blades to bounce off the walls and come at Weiss from an odd angle, dividing her attention.

That was what Weiss had been waiting for however. With a twitch of her right hand, a glyph spun into being and a tornado caught the blade mid-air and sent it spinning away to lodge in a pillar. Pressing her advantage, Weiss rushed the now half-armed Vernal, who was unable to keep up with only one blade.

Again and again, Weiss slipped her blade past Vernal’s now imperfect defence and kept her off-balance so she couldn’t retrieve her other weapon. Vernal’s frown grew deeper and deeper as she took more and more hits, until Weiss finally landed a heavy ice-encrusted fist on her jaw and sent the woman reeling.

“Enough!” Vernal shouted, her voice suddenly ten times louder as blue fire burned from her eyes and she pointed her free hand at Weiss. Weiss felt the explosion before she heard it, burning pain coursed through her body as she was sent flying halfway across the room to land with a painful thud which felt like it had nearly shattered her aura.

“Weiss?!” Ruby’s voice was faint in amongst the ringing from the explosion. She hadn’t been hit like that since she’d detonated Myrtenaster right in her face. Slightly dazed, Weiss scrambled to her feet. She couldn’t let her guard down and let someone get an attack of opportunity on her.

What was that?! Weiss looked wildly at Vernal, who hadn’t pressed the attack and had instead gone over to collect her other weapon. The blue fire Weiss had glimpsed was gone as she pulled her blade from the pillar it had been wedged in and she strolled almost lazily towards Weiss.

Flipping Penny Dreadful into its gun form Weiss squeezed off several shots, but she was still stunned by what she now realised must have been a bolt of lightning and her shots went wide and the few that didn’t were easily deflected.

“Been a while since I’ve needed to use those.” Vernal commented as she approached Weiss, the area around them an odd oasis of calm as the battle continued to rage all around them. “You might actually have beat me if I didn’t have them. It’s a shame you never stood a chance from the beginning. Did you seriously think you could stand up against a Maiden?” Weiss’ eyes widened as Vernal levelled her weapons at the Faunus. She tried to break through the daze of having several million volts flow through her and attempted to manifest a glyph, or even raise her sword to properly defend herself.

She could see Vernal’s fingers start to squeeze on the triggers and braced herself for the beams that would certainly break her aura and scorch through her body. She thought she could hear Ruby crying out in panic, unable to break away from Emerald to protect her.

Then an anguished shout rent the air, louder than any of the previous cries of pain or sounds of battle. Vernal was briefly distracted by the yell and glanced over to the source to see what had happened, Weiss turning to look too.

Her blood froze in her veins as she saw Jaune sprawled on the floor looking up in horror.

Neo’s arms were outstretched, caught in mid-shove, her eyes wide with shock as she looked down at Cinder’s blade, slick with blood from where it emerged from her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I have to bring it back here, I'm sorry!
> 
> I've had quite a few changes to The Battle of Haven planned since pretty much the beginning of the fic to make it more punchy than canon and also to stop Weiss from being a dumbass and stop trying to summon all the time, like seriously woman. 
> 
> Sadly, we are approaching the end of this instalment of The Wandering One and I'm just letting y'all know in advance I will be going on hiatus before starting the next part to work on my other fics.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and putting up with my frantic messages asking if everything in the story works. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being so reassuring that people will like this.


	56. Chapter 56

_ No. _

No no no no.

This wasn’t happening, not again.

With a dispassionate frown, Cinder raised a foot and kicked Neo off her blade, leaving the girl to collapse to the ground, unmoving.

“Neo!” Ruby’s shriek cut through the clash of weapons.

Light. Bright silver light rolled out in a wave covering them all. Then it was gone as Ruby was knocked to the ground, stunned by a blow from Emerald. Weiss blinked rapidly, trying to clear the spots from her eyes, and it seemed everyone else was doing the same, caught off guard by the burning light.

She was already moving, running towards Neo’s slumped form as Cinder staggered away from her, clutching her left arm and screeching in pain. Aura coursed down her arm and through Lilie as she thrust it out towards her downed girlfriend.

“Get away from her!” A large glyph manifested beside Neo and a tornado billowed out, throwing Cinder back. She hadn’t been good enough to protect her. She’d failed. She needed to be better, stronger.

The glyph exploded in a howl of wind that blew everyone but Weiss back as her knight burst forth. Instead of legs however, it was supported by a twisting column of air that bore it towards Cinder who dodged aside, still holding her arm in pain. Weiss didn’t pay any heed to her, however, as she skidded on her knees for the last few feet to Neo’s side.

“Neo! Neo, talk to me, please!” She begged, turning the girl onto her back. Neo’s face was ashen and her breathing faint and laboured as blood continued to spill from her wound. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t remember any of her first aid training, it was all washed away in the panic.

“Weiss!” Jaune had crawled over and pushed her out of the way, laying his hands over the hole in Neo’s stomach and pressing down.

“W-What happened?” Weiss stammered out, nausea turning her stomach as she watched blood leak out from between Jaune’s fingers. Guilt and shame filled Jaune’s expression as he kept his eyes fixed on his hands as he tried to put pressure on the wound.

“I-It was my fault. I let my guard down and Cinder was about to stab me. Next thing I knew I was on the floor and Neo was there.” Jaune choked out, tears streaming down his face. “Fuck, fuck,  _ fuck _ .”

Cinder. At Jaune’s mention of the name, Weiss was jolted back to the world, remembering they were still in the middle of a fight. Looking around wildly, Weiss saw that the fight had broken down, Qrow and Raven were no longer fighting as the latter stood off to the side, eyes fixed on Ruby’s unconscious body as she was tended to by Oscar, distress clear in her expression. Only Yang was left still fighting. Ren and Nora had abandoned their fight and were running towards herself and Jaune. As Weiss continued to look around, she saw Cinder stood off to the side as Emerald tried to help her, only for the Maiden to dismiss the green-haired girl.

“Enough of this! Leonardo, open the way.” Cinder called out, striding purposefully towards the headmaster, who was busy being accosted by the large man who’d been fighting Ren and Nora. Weiss was torn, a deep burning anger within her demanded she and her knight attack the woman who dared harm Neo, but another part told her it would be foolish, her aura was depleted and she couldn’t leave Neo’s side, not now.

As Weiss hesitated, unsure of what to do there was a bellowing roar that filled the entire room.

“OZPIN!”

The large man had released Lionheart, leaving him to do whatever it was Cinder wanted from him, and turned his attention and fury on Oscar. Weiss watched in fascinated horror as the man tore off the sleeves of his jacket to expose his muscular arms and proceeded to ram uncut crystals of Dust into them. She’d never seen anyone do that before, it was an old technique that was all but abandoned after weapons crafting was developed, owing to the sheer amount of pain it caused.

“You thought you could hide from me?! You will die over and over for what you’ve done!” He charged straight for Oscar, who hunched protectively over Ruby. With a loud crash, the man collided with a glyph as Weiss instinctively formed it to protect her other girlfriend and Qrow leapt in to continue the defence.

“Weiss, the others need you.” Ren and Nora skidded to a halt beside Neo’s broken form, Ren immediately helping Jaune with Neo whilst Nora stood over them warily.

“But Neo…” Weiss looked helplessly down at her injured girlfriend, she seemed even smaller now, so pale and delicate. She couldn’t leave her now. “Can’t you…?”

“I think that,” Nora jerked a thumb up at the knight hovering over them and keeping guard. “Will be more of a help than me.” Very reluctantly, Weiss nodded. Nora was right.

“Look after her, please.” She implored Jaune, who didn’t reply as Weiss pressed a gentle kiss to Neo’s forehead. “I’ll be back soon. Please don’t leave me.” She whispered to the unconscious girl before standing up and raising her blade once more.

Her body still ached from the lightning that had coursed through it only a few minutes ago, yet she staggered forward, her summon at her side, and watched as Lionheart finished fiddling with the statue he’d previously stood atop. With a loud grinding of gears, it began to descend into the floor, Vernal and Raven running over to join Cinder on the platform.

“Make sure they leave Ruby alive.” Cinder instructed Lionheart, her voice loud enough to carry across the room as though it were an instruction to all her forces and she shot Raven a very pointed look before they disappeared from sight.

Weiss was about to follow when there was a panicked cry from Oscar as Qrow was thrown across the room, crashing through one of the pillars that surrounded the central area and coming to earth in a crumpling, groaning heap. The large man bore down on Oscar, who tried to flee but was caught by the man and hurled across the room as well.

She had a clear run to the lift shaft, Lionheart had cowered away from the screaming rage monster fixated on Oscar and Emerald and Mercury were held up by Yang. But the hulking man was bearing down on Oscar as he scrambled to his feet and nobody was able to assist him. Nobody except Weiss.

As she dithered, a dark thought briefly crossed her mind. Did it really matter what happened to Ozpin? He’d just reincarnate into another body and CInder was right there, Weiss could so easily sprint across the room and pursue her.

No, she couldn’t. A few weeks ago she would have gone after Cinder without a thought, but she was a huntress first and foremost, and that meant protecting people. Besides, Ozpin may end up fine, but Oscar wouldn’t. He’d been dragged into this whole thing by accident. Turning to face the large man, Weiss raised a hand and directed her Arma Gigas towards him.

With a howl of wind, the knight swept towards the fight, Weiss darting after it only a few steps behind. Hearing their approach, the man turned away from Oscar and brought his arms up just in time to block a heavy swing from the knight that sent him skidding several feet back.

“Oscar?!” Weiss ran over and helped the boy to his feet. “You okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” He wheezed, leaning heavily on his cane as he watched the large man fend off more heavy blows from the surprisingly agile summon.

“Who is he? Why does he hate you so much?” Weiss asked, not taking her eyes off the fight as she directed the Arma Gigas with more gestures to hold off the man whilst Oscar caught his breath.

“Ozpin says his name is Hazel and it’s not exactly me he hates, it’s Ozpin.” Before Oscar could elaborate further, Hazel slammed two lightning charged fists into Weiss’ knight and sent it spinning away as he turned to face the pair.

“You fight for that monster too?!” He roared at Weiss and she swore she could count each and every one of the veins in his head as they bulged with rage. Weiss didn’t bother answering with words, raising Penny Dreadful to point directly at Hazel’s chest instead.

With a yell of primal rage, Hazel charged into a bullrush, fist crackling with electricity as he took several wild swings at Weiss and Oscar, who dodged out of the way. Flicking her gauntlet from Wind Dust to Ice, Weiss sent a pulse of Aura down her arm and conjured a dozen glyphs surrounding Hazel, then unleashed a barrage of icicles. The hail of icy spears did nothing to slow him down, however, as he burst from the circle and hurled a bolt of lightning at Weiss, which she was only just able to dodge. She’d already been struck by lightning once today, she  _ really  _ did not want to repeat the experience.

Electricity was always a pain to fight against, it made blocking completely ineffective as the current would simply conduct through most weapons and Aura did nothing against it. Weiss made a mental note to talk to Ruby about improving Penny Dreadful with some insulating materials, if they all made it out of this alive, of course. Rolling away from another lightning charged punch that cracked the floor, Weiss chanced a glance over at Neo, who still lay unmoving as Jaune and Ren continued to try to save her.

More than once, Weiss wasn’t quite quick enough to evade Hazel and her Arma Gigas had to intercede. The whirlwind that formed its lower half proved incredibly useful when Weiss was fighting alongside it, not having to dodge its rather clumsy footwork like she had to before.

Despite the help from her summon, she seemed to be unable to make a dent in Hazel’s aura and there was no sign that he was tiring, or even that any of her attacks were affecting him at all. Even when she used up a half of her own Lightning Dust to electrocute him, he still kept coming.

“Why won’t he go down?!” She yelled at Oscar who shook his head.

“His semblance, it allows him to block out pain.” Weiss scowled, she recognised that tone of voice.

“Nice of you to join us, Professor.” She snarked, directing her knight to smash its sword into Hazel’s back whilst he was focused on Qrow, who’d recovered enough to rejoin the fray. She supposed she shouldn’t be too short with her former headmaster. No offense to Oscar, but Ozpin’s combat experience was needed right now.

“Hazel is my fight, not Oscar’s.” He replied smartly, suddenly grabbing Weiss and twisting her around to swat aside a flaming rock that had been aimed for her head. It seemed that Lionheart had gotten his nerve back as he readied another flaming projectile at the pair.

“You never said why that was earlier.” Weiss shot back, flipping Penny Dreadful into its pistol form and shooting the rock out of the air as it hovered over Lionheart’s shield, making it explode in his face and stunning him.

“I don’t think now is really the time to discuss that.” Ozpin pointed out before running towards Hazel to support Qrow, who was currently getting his face punched repeatedly. Rolling her eyes in reluctant acceptance, Weiss followed after him, firing off a few shots at Hazel’s face, forcing him to drop Qrow and protect himself from being blinded by the laser.

If Weiss had thought fighting Hazel was difficult to begin with, it was now even more difficult when she was also being bombarded with Dust attacks by Lionheart. Even with Ozpin helping, they still made no progress against Hazel and Weiss was beginning to tire.

It was inevitable that she’d make a mistake, and though she fought hard, she accidentally put a foot down wrong, and it was all Hazel needed to grab her by the arm and channel several thousand volts through her body before tossing her aside.

The first time had been painful, the second was excruciating. Weiss just lay there on the ground, trying to blink away the haze that settled over her, the smell of singed hair invading her nose. She couldn’t give up, not yet. People were still counting on her, Neo was still counting on her. Her muscles screamed in protest as she tried to haul herself back to her feet. She could hear her Arma Gigas still fighting Hazel, Thankfully, her Aura was unbroken, though she must be starting to run low, even with her large reserves.

“Weiss, are you okay?!” A familiar voice asked as it grabbed her by the arm and hauled to her feet.

“Nora? But what about Neo?” Weiss looked over to where Neo lay in a panic and saw only Jaune crouched over her.

“Weiss, she’s going to be fine, Jaune’s got her.” Nora reassured her, looking anxiously over at the fight with Hazel, which Ren had joined as he and Ozpin valiantly fought the behemoth of a man.

“You’re sure?” Worry still bubbled in her chest as Neo didn’t look any better from where she was standing.

“There’s no time to explain now!” Nora insisted, letting Weiss go to stand still somewhat woozily on her own. “Why the fuck isn’t he going down?”

“Ozpin said something about his semblance blocking out pain.” Weiss wheezed, watching as Hazel hurled more bolts of lightning at her friend and Ozpin. An idea clicked in Weiss head, a memory from the Vytal tournament. “Nora, is there a limit to how much electricity you can absorb?”

“No idea, never tested it out before.” Nora shrugged, switching Magnhild to its grenade launcher form to rain fire upon Lionheart whilst still sticking close to the frazzled Weiss.

“Think you can take a few bolts of lightning?” Nora glanced to Weiss, an evil grin growing on her face as Weiss straightened up and raised her blade once more.

“Let’s find out!” Spinning Magnhild around back to a hammer as Weiss conjured a glyph behind her, Nora slammed the business end into the glyph, hopped onto it and pulled the trigger. With a loud explosion that rocked Weiss with its proximity, Nora went sailing through the air towards Hazel, cackling madly as she went.

The move was telegraphed and afforded Hazel plenty of time to knock Ren and Ozpin back and prepare to intercept the flying woman. With one hand, he caught Magnhild by the shaft as Nora swung it towards his head, and wrapped the other around her face. Wrenching the hammer out of Nora’s grip, Hazel raised her up high and slammed her down into the floor sending a spider web of cracks across the stone from the point of impact.

Weiss ran over to collect up Magnhild, only just about able to lift the heavy weapon, as Hazel discharged his lightning into what he thought was another helpless victim and Nora put on a great show of screaming in pain as the electricity flowed into her.

“How many more children must die for you?!” Hazel hollered at Ozpin, pouring even more electricity into Nora.

Big mistake.

In a swift movement, Nora coiled up to bring her feet level with Hazel’s chest and launched a powerful two-footed kick right into his solar plexus with enough force to knock him into the air. Sparks of electricity danced across Nora’s skin as she flipped back to her feet and accepted her hammer back from a hesitant Weiss, who hastily backed away from the sparking girl.

Manic grin firmly in place, Nora charged at Hazel, who was only just getting to his feet. With a powerful swing of Magnhild, she launched him back, through the wall and out into the courtyard and, surprisingly, another fight.

“Weiss!” Nora called out for her, and with a gesture the Arma Gigas came sweeping down to pick her up and carry her and Nora out through the hole and into the melee in the courtyard. Weiss recognised the uniforms of about half the people fighting outside, White Fang, but she had no idea who it was who were fighting them. Their arms and armour were ragtag and looked to be cobbled together from whatever they could find.

Then it hit her. They were all Faunus, which meant…

“Weiss!” A familiar voice called out from halfway across the courtyard. Blake stood at the centre of the chaos, watching wide-eyed as Hazel clambered to his feet and stabbed more Dust crystals into his arms.

“What the fuck is going on in there?” A tall man with red hair and a pair of swept back horns screamed at Hazel, who merely snorted.

“I could ask the same of you.” The pair didn’t get a chance to continue talking though as Weiss commanded the Arma Gigas to swoop in and hurl Nora at him. Once again, Hazel was punted across the battlefield, making another hole in the wall of the entryway.

“Nora, you go back, I need to get to Blake.” Weiss shouted to the hammer-wielder, who gave a mock salute and chased after Hazel as Weiss directed her summon back towards Blake.

“Blake!” Weiss called over to her friend, hopping down from her knight’s hand and directing it to make a sweep of the courtyard. “You made it!”

“We only found out the day of the attack had changed a couple of weeks ago, we came as fast as we could.” They explained, deflecting some gunfire from a White Fang soldier and Weiss froze the weapon solid with a flick of her wrist. “What’s happening?”

“Cinder and her allies, we’ve been fighting them.” Weiss filled them in, firing a few lasers at several members of the White Fang. “The White Fang, they’ve planted bombs around the campus.”

“We know, they’ve been disabled. But there’s more soldiers than we expected.” Weiss breathed a small sigh of relief that was interrupted by an enraged shout.

“Schnee!” Weiss and Blake spun to face the source of the shout and Weiss was surprised to see it was the red headed man. Although Weiss couldn’t see his eyes behind the mask he wore, she could feel the malice in them directed at both herself and Blake. The hate she could feel in his gaze was only matched by the pure loathing in Blake’s own as they glared back. It took Weiss a few moments to recognise the man from the descriptions she’d heard.

“Adam Taurus.” Weiss felt her wings flare in anger as she looked at the man who’d caused Blake so much pain and anguish.

“It’s over, Adam.” Blake spat, the fighting still raging around them, yet nobody attacked them, the White Fang unwilling to interfere in their leader’s grudge match.

“On the contrary, Blake.” Adam smiled sickeningly, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Now I get you and I get to kill the Schnee traitor.”

“The only traitor I see here is you.” Blake growled, readying their sword as Weiss gestured subtly. “And you’ll pay for what you’ve done, for what you did to Sienna.”

“She got what she deserved, just like I’m going to get what I deserve.” Weiss felt Blake stiffen beside her at Adam’s words, and was incredibly thankful to hear the sound of rushing air approaching.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Weiss smirked and, with a smooth motion, she pulled Blake out of the way as her knight charged from behind them to crash into Adam.

“You okay?” Weiss asked Blake as she turned to watch Adam duel the floating knight. “I can’t hold it for much longer or I’ll be out of Aura.”

“I’m fine, let’s get him.” Blake said grimly, drawing the cleaver half of their weapon and charging at Adam, Weiss close behind. With a wide swipe of his blade, Adam sliced straight through the Arma Gigas, the attack being the last straw after all the battering it had taken that evening, and it collapsed into nothingness. As Adam turned to face Weiss and Blake, a smug smirk plastered across his face. He was met with one of Blake’s heeled boots to the chest. Weiss darted in after whilst he was off-balance, but he moved fast, faster than Weiss expected, and parried her strike, knocking her aside as he did so.

Pivoting to face the man again, Weiss was only just able to bring Lilie up in time to deflect his sword, sparks flying as it scraped across the metal. They traded a couple more blows until he broke away suddenly to parry an attack from Blake aimed directly at his neck. Fury blazed in their eyes as they struck before fading into shadows to dodge Adam’s rapid retaliation. Very few of their attacks actually made contact though, Adam was able to block the majority, and as he did so, his sword grew brighter and brighter, and Weiss did not want to find out what that meant.

Thinking fast, Weiss flicked her gauntlet around to FIre Dust and raised it at Adam. “Blake, move!” The cat Faunus looked up from their and Adam’s crossed blades and leapt back just as Weiss unleashed a torrent of fire. She’d like to see him block that.

Weiss’ self-satisfaction didn’t last very long, however, as Adam burst from the flames, sword aloft as he brought it down in an overhead swing that was far faster than that move had any right to be. The impact sent judders down Weiss’ sword arm and made her muscles scream in pain. She’d been fighting too hard for too long and been badly shocked twice, there was no way she could keep this up for long.

A crackle of gunfire distracted Adam from his relentless assault on Weiss and he spun angrily to face Blake, blocking the rest of their shots with his sword.

This wasn’t working, he was too fast for Weiss to keep up with in her exhausted state and there was only so much Blake could do on their own. Think, Weiss, think! Fight smarter, not harder. Weiss watched the man’s angry, lightning fast strikes as she caught her breath momentarily, then it hit her.

Twisting Lilie’s barrel once more and readying herself, she called out to Blake again. “Blake, get back!” They obeyed quickly, backflipping away from Adam as she swiveled to face Weiss, no doubt expecting another unblockable Dust attack, only it didn’t come. Weiss smirked and called out another instruction to Blake. “Blitz Chess!” 

With a pulse of Aura, Weiss formed two glyphs, one beneath herself and one beneath Blake, clock hands spinning rapidly as she used up the remainder of her Lightning Dust in the time dilation glyphs.

Realising something was wrong, Adam charged for Weiss, sword already mid-swing. As he ran, though, he started to slow down until he was only moving at what seemed like a brisk walk to Weiss. She easily sidestepped his first swing and brought Penny Dreadful up in a devastating arc to slash at his side. Blake breezed up behind Adam as he reeled from the blow, sweeping his legs out from under him and bringing the cleaver half of Gambol Shroud down to slam him into the ground.

The pair were prevented from continuing their assault as gunfire echoed from behind them, as several White Fang members saw their leader’s situation and moved to protect him. With their speed enhanced by Weiss’ glyphs, Weiss and Blake made short work of their would be attackers, dropping them ruthlessly.

It was all Adam needed however to get back to his feet, glaring at the pair as he crackled with energy. Exchanging a quick look and nod, Weiss and Blake dashed forward in sync, the months apart not having dampened their teamwork in the slightest. Blake leaped over a swipe from Adam as Weiss slid beneath it, popping up to hammer a fist into his stomach before rolling out of the way for Blake to land and batter him with several lightning-fast strikes.

The time dilation wasn’t going to last forever though, Weiss could already feel the rest of the world starting to catch up with them as she ducked past Blake to land a few hits with Penny Dreadful, the final one catching Adam in the face with its hilt and making a satisfying cracking sound as he stumbled back.

As he did so, time reasserted itself on Weiss and Blake. The battle was beginning to die down around them as Blake’s militia slowly pushed back the White Fang through their sheer numbers. The pair watched as Adam’s mask fragmented and fell away. Weiss almost wished it surprised her to see the brand scorched over his left eye, yet knowing how cruelly Jacques had treated her and her father, it just didn’t.

Blinking in surprise, Adam reached up to feel for his mask and his face contorted into rage as he glared at Weiss. “Now you see what they did to me?! Why the Humans must pay for their crimes against us?” He screamed at her, spittle flying as he pointed his sword directly at her.

“You think all of humanity deserves to die just because of how you were injured?” Weiss snapped back, any sympathy she would have felt for him over his unjust treatment long gone. “You’re not the only Faunus who's been hurt by the SDC, or even the Schnee family directly.” Weiss flared her wings, turning to face Adam directly as people started to look and pay attention to her.

“Jacques Schnee had my father murdered before I was even born! He took my wings when I was still a baby! Yet here I am, protecting Humanity as well as the Faunus.” Adam’s eyes narrowed at her, fury simmering behind them.

“She’s not the only one.” Blake spoke up too, their voice carrying better than Weiss’ across the courtyard. “We have countless Faunus amongst our numbers who have been hurt by Humans and have so many reasons not to fight for them, but here they are!” Blake burned with righteous fury as the militia cheered their agreement.

“You’re no hero, Adam. You’re a spiteful wretch who took the White Fang to act out your petty vengeance. You have no more power, Adam, no power of the Fang and no more over me, and I’m going to make you pay for what you’ve done.” Blake finished, their grip on their sword tightening as Adam only just now seemed to realise the position he was in. His White Fang had been overwhelmed and he was increasingly surrounded by nervous, yet determined militia fighters.

With a snarl, he stabbed his sword into the ground, the glow that had been building up throughout the fight unleashed in a wave of red energy that knocked everyone back. His path cleared, Adam ran for the edge of the courtyard and the trees that surrounded it.

“No!” Blake shrieked, getting back to their feet after being knocked over by the blast and running after Adam. Groaning in pain, Weiss got to her feet as well and followed as fast as she could. She just caught up to Blake just as Adam disappeared into the treeline. Blake was about to follow when Weiss managed to catch them by the wrist and hold them back.

“Let go, Weiss! I’m going to kill him for what he’s done! To me, to Yang, to Māmā! For everyone at Beacon!” They screamed, trying to tug themselves free but Weiss held firm.

“Blake, don’t. It’ll be a trap, once he’s lured you away from our support he’ll just pick you off.”

“He needs to pay for what he’s done!” Blake continued to insist, pulling hard and nearly breaking free.

“He will, I promise, but not right now. They still need us here.” Weiss glanced back at the entrance hall. Nobody else had come out since Hazel, and Weiss had no idea what was going on in there.

After another few seconds of desperate pulling, Blake finally stopped and slumped in defeat. Despite her growing anxiety about her girlfriends and the others in the hall, Weiss pulled a now trembling Blake into a hug.

“It’s okay, he lost. He’s got nothing left.” Weiss tried to reassure them, but they continued to shake as Weiss heard rapid footsteps and looked back to see Sun jogging over.

“Weiss, Blake! You two okay?”

“I’m fine, Sun.” Weiss elected not to answer on Blake’s behalf, they looked anything but okay right now. As she looked back at the courtyard she was surprised to see airships sweeping in from the city, searchlights illuminating the area as the fighting wound down. “Sun, can you handle things out here?”

“Uh, yeah. Why? And why are you here? The day of the attack got changed.”

“Ruby, Yang, Neo. Everyone was there. We were fighting in the hall. They’re still in there, they need me.” Weiss didn’t know exactly how much help she could be. She was exhausted, haggard and rapidly running out of Dust and Aura.

The mention of Yang’s name, however, seemed to infuse Blake with fresh nervous energy and they looked over at the demolished entryway to the academy. “Yang’s here?”

“That’s what I said.” Weiss coughed, the lack of action meant the aches and pains were starting to bother her as the adrenaline, she needed to get back into the fray or she’d be completely useless. Releasing Blake, she started to jog towards the hall “Stay safe!” She called over her shoulder and was surprised to find Blake keeping pace with her.

“I’m coming too, you’re in no shape to keep fighting alone.” They stated flatly, and Weiss smiled weakly at them.

“Thank you.”

Weiss picked up the pace a little and soon the monochrome pair leaped over the rubble and into the room. Their allies looked very much worse for wear, encircling the lift shaft protectively as they were surrounded by Emerald, Mercury and Hazel. Lionheart was nowhere to be seen and the three opponents all looked rather battered as well. Emerald and Mercury did at least, Hazel still looked fresh as a daisy, though she could hear his laboured breathing from her position halfway across the room.

Weiss and Blake sprinted forward, Weiss clicking Lilie around to Fire Dust and reaching down into the last remains of her Aura to summon a wave of flames that slammed into their foes’ backs, staggering them and allowing Weiss and Blake to slip past and form up with their allies.

“Blake!?” Ruby shrieked, a combination of surprise and elation at the surprise addition to their forces. As Weiss joined their ranks, she noticed Yang was missing and, to her horror, Neo wasn’t where Jaune had been treating her, nor was she with them.

“Where’s Neo?” She asked, panic-stricken. She couldn’t be gone, she must be here somewhere.

“She went after Cinder.” Ruby explained, firing a couple of rounds at Emerald, who’d moved forward to try to break through.

“But she was hurt, dying!”

“Jaune healed her, I don’t know how and she just got up and dived down the shaft after them.”

“And Yang?”

“She went after Neo.” Weiss flipped Penny Dreadful into its pistol form to help keep the three attackers back. The three had already been outnumbered before Weiss and Blake had arrived, now the addition of a fairly fresh fighter and Weiss tipped the scales even further against them.

Mercury rushed forward, using his boots to try to leap over the defensive line, only to be caught in mid-air by Blake’s ribbon and brought crashing to Earth with a painful crash.

“That’s enough! Just give up, it’s over!” Ruby implored, lowering her weapon a little only for Emerald to spit at her.

“It’s not over. Cinder will be back with the relic and she’ll kill all of you. She won’t let us down.” She asserted stubbornly, reloading her pistols and aiming them square at Ruby. As she did, Weiss noticed Blake’s ears flick backwards, then turn to look down the lift shaft.

Soon Weiss heard it too, the grinding of gears as the lift platform rose out of the ground, two figures stood atop it.

Yang, a gold and blue object clutched in her grip, and leaned up against her other side, eyes closed and wheezing hard, was Neo.

“Yang, Neo!” Weiss cried out, relief flooding her to see they were okay.

At the sound of her name, Neo’s eyes opened and pink fire burned from them as she looked down at Weiss with a small smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! That's right, if canon wasn't already way off the rails it sure is now! I've had this particular development planned pretty much ever since I decided Neo was going to become a main character and I have so many plans for this in the next part, it's gonna be so much fun! Of course we're using my definition of fun, which as we all know by now is angst! There's just one more chapter to go to wrap things up which I'll post on Saturday since it's kinda short.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and providing plenty of kisses. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and acting as a soundboard for my dumbass ideas.


	57. Chapter 57

Weiss felt her jaw drop in shock as she gazed up at her exhausted girlfriend. If that fire burning from Neo’s eyes meant what Weiss thought it meant… Then she’d done it, she’d actually done it. A loud disbelieving choking sound made Weiss spin back to see Emerald collapse to her knees with a heavy thump, her eyes fixed on Neo as tears streamed from them.

“Em, get up, we need to go.” Mercury was already starting to back away, genuine fear flickering in his eyes as he looked between their arrayed forces. Emerald’s breath quickened, becoming frantic as she started shaking, her eyes never leaving Neo.

“No. No no no no no no no no no.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it rang out loud and clear in the now silent hall.

“Emerald!” Her eyes were blank, her mouth moving rapidly, still repeating the same word over and over, slowly increasing in volume. Weiss shot confused glances at the others, not entirely sure what they were supposed to do with the distraught girl.

Ruby lowered Crescent Rose slightly and stepped towards the sobbing girl, though still keeping a wary eye on Mercury and Hazel, who seemed torn between fleeing and not leaving their ally behind. “Emer-?”

Without warning, Emerald screamed out a wordless cry of anguish, her eyes wide as she stared up at the ceiling and the world went black.

After a moment, light filtered back in, grey and muted, and where Emerald had knelt, there was a bubbling tar-like mass. Weiss could only watch in petrified horror as it grew, rising into the air, alabaster limbs lined with dark veins unfolding from it, twitching and twisting in ways they should not. And the head, rising eerily from the undulating mass, as pale as the writhing arms, eyes black as the void with the veins radiating out, giving the impression of cracks in a porcelain mask.

Weiss watched, frozen in terror as it drew back, then let out an ear-splitting screech, shocking Weiss out of her stunned daze. The horrifying thing swooped towards them and Weiss automatically brought her sword up to block, as futile as she knew it would be. The thing’s jaw opened wide, too wide, and the inky blackness of its maw enveloped her.

Just as suddenly as the lights had gone out, they blinked back to life, illuminating the hall with their warm yellow glow. Penny Dreadful shook in Weiss’ hand as she slowly lowered it to her side and glanced around. Hazel, Mercury and Emerald were gone and her friends all seemed to be in similar states of shock and horror.

“W-What was that?” Blake choked out, their eyes flickering fearfully around the room as though the thing would come back and be less merciful this time.

“An illusion, distorted, but still accurate. That was Salem.” Ozpin answered from where he’d collapsed on the floor. 

Something cold gripped Weiss’ heart and she glanced back at where the monstrous thing had spawned from.  _ That _ was Salem?! The master of Grimm and their ultimate enemy? How were they supposed to fight her if a mere illusion of her was enough to paralyse them all with fear?

“What the fuck is a ‘Salem’?” Blake looked around at the others in scared confusion.

“It’s a long story, we’ll fill you in later.” Ruby mumbled, looking distinctly uneasy as she let Crescent Rose drop. The sound of running footsteps echoed through the hall and Weiss snapped her attention to the ruined entryway. Oh gods, please not more fighting, hadn’t they done enough for one evening?

She sagged in relief, however, as Kali, Ghira and Sun came into view, picking their way across the wreckage towards their child. “Blake!”

“Mom! Dad!” They cried out and sprinted towards their parents, colliding with them and pulling them all into a group hug. Weiss looked away from the heartwarming scene to see Yang helping Neo down the stairs. Slowly Weiss jogged over the foot of the stairs to meet them, tears already starting to prick at her eyes. The pink fire that had burned from Neo’s eyes had been extinguished, but Weiss could almost feel the power thrumming from her as she reached the ground floor and separated from Yang, who moved aside to talk to Qrow.

“You’re alright. You’re really alright…” Weiss reached out tentatively to touch Neo’s arm though her eyes remained fixed on the large hole in her corset where she’d been stabbed, bloodstains soaked into the fabric. A soft hand placed itself under Weiss’ chin and directed her to look up at Neo’s gently smiling face. “Is Cinder…?”

Neo nodded, her smile falling just a little as she let go of Weiss’ chin to speak.  _ ‘She is. We’ll talk about it later though. A lot happened down there.’  _ Neo shot a glance over at Yang before pulling Weiss into a bone-crushing hug. The tears in Weiss’ eyes that had been threatening to spill out finally did so and she buried her face into Neo’s shoulder.

“Neo!” A high pitched squeal broke the air as a red mass collided with the hugging pair, knocking them all to the ground. “Neo, I’m so so so so glad you’re alright.” Weiss pulled her head back a little as she lay awkwardly on the floor, crushed by the combined weight of Neo and a sobbing Ruby, who clutched onto Neo like she was a lifeline. “I was so scared, you were hurt so badlyandIcouldn’tgetawaythenIgotknockedoutandstuffandyouwerejustlyingthereandIwassosososcaredandIdon’tknowwhatI’ddowithoutyouand-.”

“Ruby, breathe.” Weiss choked out, unable to do so herself with the two girls on top of her.

“Sorry, Weiss.” Ruby quickly clambered off Weiss, though she didn’t let go of Neo and the two of them pulled Weiss upright and into a sitting position.

“Room for one more?” Yang’s teasing chuckle sounded from above them and Ruby gestured for her sister to join them. With a loud sigh of relief, Yang slumped down to the floor and tucked into Ruby’s side, ruffling the younger girl’s hair affectionately before focusing on something behind Weiss, eyes widening in surprise. Shuffling round, Weiss was greeted with the sight of Blake, looking very awkward as she hovered anxiously.

“Hi, girls.” They raised a hand in greeting, face flushed with embarrassment.

“You cut your hair.” Yang pointed out, Blake automatically reaching up to toy with her bob.

“O-Oh yeah, I wanted a change.”

“It looks good on you.” Blake blushed even harder at the compliment and Weiss couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the display.

“Thanks…” Still they stood uncertainly, clearly wanting to join them but unwilling to do so without invitation. Weiss looked back to Yang, who had a thoughtful expression on her face that softened into a hesitant smile as she extended her metal arm to Blake. After a moment’s hesitation as they looked at the arm with several conflicted emotions flitting behind their amber eyes, Blake reached out and accepted it, allowing themself to be pulled down into the pile.

Ruby let out a small squeal of joy, releasing Neo from her grip in order to pull Blake into the group hug. With a rustle of feathers, Weiss fully unfolded her wings and wrapped them as best she could around the other four. She’d done it. It had taken over a year, a year of hardship and pain. She travelled to the ends of Remnant and back, learned so much about herself and picked up another stray along the way, and now here they all were.

Her family was back together again, and for the first time in a long long time, Weiss felt truly happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are finished with part 2! Thank you all so much for sticking with this for the last several months, all of your comments and support have been amazing! I am going to be going on hiatus for a couple of weeks, and actually sticking to it unlike last break between fics, mostly to work on some other things and just resting a little. But! I will be back soon with part 3 of this saga entitled: A Sadder and a Wiser Woman. See y'all then!
> 
> I have so many thanks to give to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading, helping me through my depressive phases, acting as a plot soundboard and so many other things. I also owe [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) lots of thanks too, for beta reading, listening to my plot and character rants, always believing in me and frankly more things than I can say here. This fic wouldn't be what it is without the both of you.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh and I'm still on tumblr @apatheticabstractapotheosis so drop by and stuff, I post things occasionally.


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